Hidden Love
by xGuiltyxPleasure
Summary: A passionate affair. It started as mere physical attraction, but has developed into something much deeper. Troy must figure out what the right choice is, and if he has the strength to make it. Troypay.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, I know I'm working on a bunch of stories at once, but I AM updating them all, and I can't help it. I just sit in class watching the clock pass all day with nothing to entertain me but my imagination, and apparently a large part of my imagination is just Troypay stories. So, I keep thinking of new ideas for fanfics. Anyways, this one's going to be a little risque, (haha) it's about Troy and Sharpay's affair, so I may have a little bit of fun with it. On the other hand, if you're looking for something of mine that has a squeakier rep, check out The Good Life, I really like it and it's the purest of the things I've written. (Cheap Advertisement, sorry) Anyways, here it is:**

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Sharpay groaned as he pulled her closer to him, his hands placed firmly on her bottom, thrusting himself up inside her. They had both nearly reached their release, and with one final loud moan from both of them, she collapsed on top of him, sighing in pleasure.

"Amazing as always baby." Troy said. He kissed her head, and rolled himself over on top of her, looking in to her eyes.

"You have to leave soon, don't you?" she asked him, just a small note of sadness in her voice.

"Gabriella and I have dinner plans with her mother, or something. Whatever." Troy mumbled.

"Mmmmm." she replied sleepily. By the time he left her, she was always extremely tired, "Have fun with Miss. Goddy Tooshoes. Just don't forget about your sex toy waiting for you here." She kissed his lips lightly.

"Sharpay, you're more to me than a sex toy. You know that." Troy said, his tone completely serious.

"Right. So you've said."

"Baby, maybe when this started out, it was just a physical attraction, but it's more now. I'm sure of it." Troy tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Good, I payed my virginity for this, whatever 'this' is." Sharpay replied, smirking.

"I know." Troy sighed, "You should have told me that before our first time."

"You're too much of a gentleman." she replied kissing his lips again, "You wouldn't have banged me."

"Oh you're such a romantic." Troy replied sarcastically. "And I'm pretty sure, I'm no gentleman. I'm cheating on my girlfriend, took another girl's virginity in the process, and I can't even offer you a public relationship."

"I don't care if it's public. As long as I get to be with you." Sharpay said, yawning, "I'm sleepy." She pulled her sheets up over her naked frame, gazing up at Troy. She admired his toned abs, his tan complexion, and those gorgeous blue eyes. She'd be his other woman any day.

"Well, I may be back here later tonight, so don't wear yourself out before I get back." Troy said, "Though you know I like to watch you when you do." he added, jokingly.

"You mean this?" Sharpay asked, pushing the sheets down, and spread her legs, inserting two of her own fingers into herself, and tilted her head back to moan, though the moan was fake. Troy had definitely taken care of all her sexual needs already.

He still licked his lips though, and she could see him growing in size again. He started to advance towards her again. Maybe they had time for one more quickie...

"Your girlfriend's waiting." Sharpay said, crossing her arms across her bare breasts.

"Damn." Troy said. He grabbed Sharpay's hand and pulled it out of her, replacing it with his own fingers. He stroked her gently, suprisingly stimulating arrousal in her again, even though they'd just made love for two hours.

"Till next time." he whispered in her ear.

"I'll miss you." she said, kissing his neck, and sucking it lightly.

"Torturing me baby." He said to her. He stood up off the bed reluctantly, and pulled his boxers and jeans back on. He picked his t-shirt up and put it on. Then he found his East High hoodie. Instead of putting it back on however, he walked over to her and pulled it over her head. She stuck her arms through the sleeves.

"You can keep this." he said. He kissed the top of her head.

"Shouldn't this go to the girlfriend?" Sharpay asked.

"Just don't wear it to school." Troy said, stating the obvious, "It looks sexy on you by the way. Get some sleep and stay exactly the way you are. I want some of that when I get back."

"Okay." Sharpay yawned. She stretched out and then burried her head in the covers. She felt Troy walk over one more time to her and wrap his arms all the way around her tightly, kissing her shoulders through the blankets. Then she heard her door close and his footsteps retreat down the hall.

It'd only been a few weeks, but it seemed like it had been much longer. She'd spent only a few amazing weeks with Troy Bolton, serving as his mistress, but they'd been the most amazing weeks of her life. She'd found out what sex was truly like and it was better than she could have even imagined. Maybe it was because it was with Troy Bolton. He was exceptional in everthing else, why shouldn't he exell in sex? But regardless, she couldn't imagine going a day without him now.

This was one time when being Little Miss Perfect didn't pay off. Gabriella Montez, planned on staying pure until marriage, and Troy Bolton, needed a release from someone. Sharpay of course, had been the perfect fit. She was beautiful, and there was obvious sexual tension between the two of them. She'd had a crush on him throughout highschool, which he'd always been aware of, and he'd often fantasized about her at night. So when he first kissed her that day in the auditorium, soon after rehearsal let out, she was only shocked for a moment. Before she knew it, they were in his truck, heading back to his house, groping at each other from across the seats the entire time.

Her time with Troy Bolton was incredible. Of course, part of her had to admit, it hurt just a little to know she was being used for just one thing. And in her subconcious she kept warning herself that the conditions were not likely to work themselves out in her favour. But for now, the only thing that ever clouded her mind was Troy Bolton. An affair was fine with her, and it didn't have to end in a relationship. These were her final thoughts as she drifted off into sleep. She dreamed about Troy and those magical hands of his, smiling as she slept. And in just a few hours he'd be back for Round Two of the night.

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**A/N: It's just an intro, okay? Just introducing the whole affair thing. There will be a lot of chapters going in to details about the affair itself... :) review, review, review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey, please review and let me know what you think of this. I promise I'm going to try and update Spring Break tonight, I'm not neglecting any of my stories! haha. xoxo.**

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His hands slid around her waste, waking her from her light sleep. She startled for a second, then smiled, and settled into his arms. She knew it was him without looking. He had come back like he'd said.

"Troy." she acknowledged him. She didn't know if he wanted to have sex again or if he had just come back to spoon her. He seemed to feel an obligation to serve time cuddling and laying in her bed afterwards, like a girlfriend would expect of him. He often couldn't say the night because of obligations to Gabriella, but would return later to see her again, and just be with her.

"Hey." he replied. His hot breath against her neck sent shivers down her spine. She needed him again, regardless if he'd come here for that or not. She rolled over to face him.

"I missed you so much." she said. She placed small kisses along his jawline.

"I missed you too." Troy said. "I kept thinking about you all evening. I had to stop before Gabriella's mom saw my erection."

Sharpay chuckled. She trailed her left hand down his body, and rubbed him softly, "No kidding." she said, "Your cock is painfully hard."

"Well then it's a good thing I have you here to take care of it." Troy said. He took his other hand in his, and brought it down under the covers.

"Fine." she grumbled. Her tone was used only jokingly though. She didn't mind doing anything for Troy, it made her happy.

She unzipped his pants and pulled them down. Troy helped her, throwing his jeans on the floor. Then she lifted his t-shirt off his head. She kissed his chest. Then she trailed more kisses slowly down his chest to his stomach. She moved her tongue across him, in circles, just above the waistband of his boxers.

"Uh, oh god Pay it aches, please hurry." Troy had his eyes shut tight, waiting to be released from his pain. She had gotten very good at prolonging his torture. She giggled, and moved her head back up, kissing his stomache again.

"No." Troy laughed a little too, "Please Sharpay."

She caved in. He was just too adorable to hold off on for too long. She slipped his boxers off of him, moving her mouth around the tip of his cock. He groaned out loudly in sudden pleasure. She licked the tip, enjoying his moans, then took more of him into her mouth. The first time she'd been with him, she hadn't been able to go nearly as far up him as she could now. He placed his hands on her head, feeling it move up and down quicker and quicker. He came finally, shooting into her mouth. She spit it out quickly on to the sheets.

"Mmm." she said, moving herself back up, and emerging from under the covers.

"Hey." he responded. He kissed her forehead.

"Hey." she replied, smiling. He placed his hands under her sweatshirt, rubbing her bare stomach. Then he moved them up to her breasts, squeezing them, and kneeding them gently. She reached down to the bottom of her shirt, attempting to remove it over her head. He helped her out of it, and then resumed his focus to her chest. He kissed down the valley between her breasts. Then he took one into his mouth, placing his hand on the other one and massaging it. She breathed heavily, and ran her hands through his chestnut hair. His tongue was roaming across both her breasts, kissing and licking them eagerly. She pressed his head closer into her, moaning out in ecstasy.

"Sharpay!" Her bedroom door swung open. Sharpay let out a deafening scream, scaring Troy and causing him to yell out in suprise at well. He pulled the covers over his head to hide from the intruder.

"What do you want Ryan?" Sharpay asked in frusteration.

"What's going on in here?" Ryan stepped in, feeling the protective brother side of him kick in. Sharpay clutched the comforter over her chest, trying to keep herself covered. Troy lowered the blanket from his head sheepishly, relieved that it was only Sharpay's brother and not someone much worse, like her father. The Evans twins' parents were on vacation in Hawaii right now, but he had been terrified that they had returned early. Had that been the case, and Sharpay's nortoriously protective 'Daddy' had walked through the door, Troy knew things would have gotten extremely ugly for him very fast.

"Leave." Sharpay said to Ryan.

"What are you doing here?" Ryan pointed an accusatory finger at Troy, "And why are you in bed with my sister? Did you break up with Gabriella? No, you didn't! I know you didn't! You're cheating on her? With my sister? Sharpay this is wrong. You can't do this. Oh my goodness, you can't do this!" Ryan rambled out loud, his anger growing. "This is so typical of you!" he yelled at Sharpay.

"Ryan, calm down, I'll explain everything to you later." Sharpay said.

"I should go call Gabriella right now." Ryan said, glaring at Troy.

"Dude, please don't do that!" Troy pleaded with him.

"Ryan!" Sharpay said, "Get out, and don't say anything. I promise you, we'll talk about this later."

Ryan eyed the two angrily, "Fine." he said. He started to walk out of the room, but changed his mind and turned around, "Don't hurt her Bolton." Ryan said to Troy.

"You got it man." Troy replied, looking amused. It was somewhat comical to be threatened by the small showtunes loving boy, especially when he was wearing a rhinestone embrodiored polo. Sharpay grimaced. Sure, her brother was a dork, but she'd always hated when the jocks teased him, and by acting as if he was above him, Troy was proving no better.

Ryan rolled his eyes and left his sister's room slamming the door.

"Don't make fun of my brother." Sharpay said to Troy once Ryan had left.

"I didn't make fun of him!" Troy argued.

"He doesn't deserve to be patronized Troy. If you had a sister, you'd understand." Sharpay said.

"I, for one, am very glad that you're not my sister." Troy said, leaning over on top of her again. Sharpay smiled at him,forgetting about Ryan, and slid back down laying fully on her back. Troy took one of her hands, and began sucking on her fingers one at a time, "Because if you were, and I was living here with you, I still don't think I'd be able to resist you." He kissed and nibbled on the fingertips, "Ryan has no idea what he's missing out on."

Sharpay chuckled, moving her mouth in close to Troy's, and kissing him. She pulled back only slightly, so their lips were still lightly touching, "Neither does Gabriella." she whispered, and then kissed him deeply again.


	3. Chapter 3

Troy sat across from Gabriella. They were in math class, but there was a substitute and nobody was actually doing the left behind assignment. Gabriella was trying to get Troy to focus and do his work anyways, however, because math happened to be her favorite subject next to chemistry, and of course being assigned eighty pre-cal problems wasn't an inconveinence to her in any way. Troy was having an extremely difficult time concentrating, not only because he hated math and had no real intentions on completing the work, but also because Sharpay was sitting only a few feet over, and as usual, she looked insanely hot.

Gabriella had her back to Sharpay, so she could not see her, but Troy had a perfect view, and glanced over every chance he got to look up from the pre-calculus text book. Sharpay was wearing a white sundress with small yellow daisies that brought out the highlights in her blonde hair. He couldn't be sure, but it seemed that every time he glanced back over to her, her dress had been pushed down even lower, revealing even more amazing cleavage. He wasn't sure he was going to be able to make it through the day without touching her. He'd gotten used to being with her almost every day, often more than once a day, and he was beginning to think he'd become addicted. Not addicted to sex so much, but addicted to her. Her being Sharpay. That was mind blowing. He definitely wouldn't have thought had he been asked six months ago, that he would be going behind his perfect girlfriend's back to be with Sharpay Evans, the high school bitch. He definitely wouldn't have thought that his time with her would be his favorite part of the day, that he would be counting down the time until he got to be alone with her again. But life was full of suprises he supposed, and it definitely wasn't suprising to think he'd want to have sex with Sharpay. That was the dream of roughly half of East High's male population, maybe more.

"Troy?" Gabriella said, "What's the value of y?"

"Oh, uh... I got three plus or minus i times the square root of thirty seven." Troy replied.

"What? No. Troy how did you get that? That's not even close." Gabriella said, sighing.

"Oh. Well, maybe we should take a break Gabi. You know we don't even need to do this, look around, no one else is." Troy said.

"You've gotten almost every single problem wrong on your first try. If I let you quit now, you're going to fail the quiz on Monday." Gabriella argued.

Both heard a loud snorting sound, and looked in Sharpay's direction. Sharpay was looking down intently at the book she was reading, sitting alone, and silently denying having just made the noise. Troy knew she was eavesdropping on their conversation. She often did, and then later picked Gabriella apart when they were alone. Troy kind of wished she wouldn't. Everything she said made Troy much more aware of Gabriella's hangups which made it much harder to be in a room with her on occasions such like this. What other seventeen year old girl would be forcing her boyfriend to do math problems when there was an unattentive sub and they could probably sneak up to the roof for a pda session before next class?

Troy sighed and picked up his pencil again, trying to rework the problem while Gabriella explained each step out loud to him. He looked back over at Sharpay again. He was positive this time that she was purposefully lowering her dress's neckline, and it was now ridiculously low. She had pushed her skirt up very high as well, and had her hand placed suggestively on her upper thigh. Troy grinned. She looked up and met eye contact with him, and gave him a sly smile. He smiled back.

Gabriella was aware that Troy's focus had shifted to someone else in the room. She turned her head around to see who he was smiling at, and saw Sharpay quickly flicking her head back down to her open paperback.

"Why are you staring at Sharpay?" Gabriella asked him.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I didn't realize I was. I'm just kind of spacing..." Troy said.

"Hmmm. Okay, did you get a different value for y this time?" Gabriella replied.

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Troy was thankful when the bell finally rang and jumped up eagerly from his seat. Sharpay had been teasing him all class period. Both of them had chemistry next, but not with Gabriella since she was in the AP class, something neither Troy nor Sharpay would ever be caught dead in. He left Gabriella quickly and walked down the hall towards his next class, but stopped at the janitor's closet, slipping inside and leaving the door cracked. When Sharpay walked by, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the closet with him, shutting the door and enclosing them in darkness.

"What are you doing?" Sharpay asked giggling. Troy pressed his mouth up against her, shutting her up.

"Mmmm." Sharpay said, "I needed that. Okay, come on."

"What are you talking about?" Troy asked, "Come on where?"

"Uh, chemistry? Duh, Troy." Sharpay giggled again.

Troy pressed her up against the wall, "You're not going anywhere until I say you are." he said gruffly, but in a light tone. Sharpay put her hands up to his cheeks, and kissed him hungrily.

"What are you going to try to do?" she asked, "Lay me in a closet? I don't think that's a good idea Troy."

"No." Troy said, "I wasn't going to try to bang you against this wall, but I do want to kiss and touch you for a while, until I've gotten enough out of my system so that I'm able to make it through the end of the day before I get to see you and I have my way completely with you."

Sharpay chuckled," Have your way with me?" she joked, "Troy, I don't want to be raped."

Troy laughed back, and then pressed his lips hard against hers, holding them in the same place for a minute before he pulled away roughly.

"I see, you're just going to manhandle me then for now, right?" Sharpay said.

"Absolutely." Troy said. He kissed down her neck and wasted no time pulling the thin straps of her dress off her shoulders, and sliding the dress down to just above her navel. He was quite pleased to discover she wasn't wearing a bra. He slipped his hands over her breasts, and kneaded them gently, crashing his lips against hers once again. He loved kissing her. Small noises esaped her mouth into his own due to the pleasure of his working hands on her breasts. He pulled away from her lips gently, and brought one of his fingers up to her mouth, pushing it softly in. She smiled and sucked on it. He took the now wet finger tip and ran it back along around her hardening nipples. He did the same with his other finger and likewise her other breast. She smiled and let out a low moan.

"Troy, you're going to tell on us." Sharpay said.

"What are you talking about?" Troy asked.

Sharpay ran her fingers along the large bulge developing in his jeans that had been pressing up against her inner thigh, "This." she whispered. Troy groaned, and unbuttoned his jeans, freeing his erection from its denim prison. Sharpay reached inside his boxers, running her fingertips along the length of him.

"I'll try to calm it until I'm able to take care of you completely tonight." Sharpay said, pushing his boxers down, and taking him in both of her hands, massaging him. It took all the willpower he had, but he pryed her hands off of him.

"You have to stop." he said, "You're only making the situation worse. If you keep going like this I'm afraid I'll cum in my pants and that would be embarassing."

Sharpay laughed a little, "I'm sorry." she said, "I can't wait to be alone with you again tonight." she added, whispering lowly into his ear.

"Boner, Sharpay." Troy said looking up at the ceiling and trying to direct his concentration elsewhere, "You keep making it worse."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Sharpay said, giggling, and pulling the straps of her dress back up, fixing herself, and smoothing out the back of her hair that had been pressed against the cement wall.

"We should get to class." Troy said, "We won't be that late."

"Yeah I guess." Sharpay said, sighing.

Troy started to take her hand to pull her out of the closet, but she didn't follow. He turned around to see what the holdup was.

"Troy?" she asked, biting her lower lip.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Do you think you'd ever take me up to the roof, you know your special place where you take Gabriella?" Sharpay asked.

"Oh, um, well Sharpay, I'd love to, but... that's a very public place. I mean people outside could look up and see us." Troy ran a hand through his hair.

"Okay." Sharpay said quietly. She looked down at her now slightly mused dress, straightening it. Gabriella got the rooftop and the dinner dates, she got the janitor's closet and late night booty calls. But she'd known that was to be expected from the beginning.

"Come on, we should really get to class now." Troy said, taking Sharpay's hand in his again. She followed him out silently. "I'm sorry." Troy added softly, sensing her sadness.

Sharpay nodded and followed him out, to go to chemistry class, where she would daydream all period of him kissing her with the passion he'd kissed her with in the closet, up in the middle of the roof, while all the students watched from below.

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**A/N: Please review! I love reading them! xoxo. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

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**A/N: Okay, just so everyone knows, this is going to be a relatively short story. We're talking like around ten chapters here, maybe a few more since some of these are kind of short. I mean it's basically introducing Troy and Sharpay having an affair, then there's going to be the one big climax event (can't tell you what it is yet), and then you know, like the summary says Troy will have to make his choice. So, anyways, here you go:**

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Sharpay turned the keys in her ignition, backing out of her reserved parking spot at East High. She'd hoped to get to be with Troy, who had almost become her new hobby, directly after school. Unfortunately for her, Troy had already made plans with his friends, including Gabriella. Even though they were only going out to eat and then to the movies, Sharpay still couldn't help feeling jealous and left out. Even Ryan was going, and she couldn't help wondering why she had been left out. Often she was invited to these kind of things with Troy's social circle, and despite the disdainful way she typically regarded the "wildcats", Sharpay couldn't help but want to feel included. She didn't have very many real friends. At her country club she had a small clique of three girls that followed her around, but she wasn't sure if you could consider them friends. She watched the way the other students interacted, and your friends didn't let you walk all over them the way these girls did, even allowing Sharpay to refer to them as the "Sharpettes". Zeke would do anything for her, he was definitely a loyal face to turn to at East High should ever she feel too alone. But he too was far to passive for Sharpay's tastes in her treatment of him. And she also couldn't truly trust his friendship as unconditional, for she knew if he hadn't developed his over the top school boy crush on her, their paths never would have mixed on a purely friendly basis. She'd tried to make friends with people in drama club, but they all resented her, largely due to her own faults, and the way she bossed them around and disregarded those who didn't offer her an upper hand, and smally also due to jealously, for most people would admit that Sharpay posessed talent, even if she hyped it up to be maybe just slightly more than it was.

But regardless if she was to blame or not, Sharpay Evans often found herself feeling begrudgingly lonely. She wanted a mutual, balanced, and honest relationship with another human being, and however messed up it was, that was what she found in Troy Bolton. Both of them gave as much as they recieved, or maybe, if it was possible, Sharpay gave more, something that was new and foreign to her and provided her almost with a sense of relief. Relief that she, Sharpay Evans, could experience human thoughts and emotions, something she'd always felt she lacked since she was a small child. In pre-school, she felt alienated from the other children. She didn't feel the same fleeting emotions they did, she was constant. She didn't need to sit with the other children on the large carpeted floor, with the letters of the alphabet bordering it in large blocks, learning every day the basics of reading, writing, shapes, and numbers. She just understood without needing to be further probed, and when she was young this had frightened her. None of the other children learned the way she did, interacted like her, or showed signs of even remotely similar thought processes. And thus, Sharpay had begun to distance herself from her fellow peers from the very beginning, chosing to consume herself with her own amusements, and her world therefore revolved only around her, almost to a point that was out of her own control.

Making it through school and trying to feign human alliances had not been an easy feat. But with Troy, things felt simpler than she would have ever thought possible for herself. With Troy, she was more natural than she ever was by herself or with any other companion she'd ever had, including her family. She talked to him with ease, no alterior motives ever underlined a single thing she said or did around him, and she could tell he was reciprocal in his actions towards her.

It made her sad that she couldn't be with Troy all the time, that he wouldn't take her out to dinner at night like he did Gabriella, that whenever she felt the impulse to crash her lips against his own during school or around his friends, she couldn't just kiss him and express to him the way she felt at that moment, emotions that words couldn't describe. And she wondered if Troy ever felt the same way about their relationship. Maybe that was why they couldn't keep their hands off of each other every moment they got, like today, engaging in foreplay in the janitor's closet. In any other circumstance Sharpay would never have been so irrationally horny that she couldn't even keep it in her pants until they were safe at home, behind a locked bedroom door. But with Troy she felt so many inexplicable emotions that she'd never felt before, ones that were foreign, unusual, and terrifying to her, but wonderful all the same. Sharpay Evans had always been one for talking, and had always found someway to express how she felt through words, but with Troy, she was speechless, unable to simply tell him the way he made her feel. She had no choice but to show him with her lips and her hands, and every fiber in her body, trying to explore him as well, and read his signals, to figure out what this new and unreadable connection they shared was.

Troy was just as fervent in his return of her kisses and touches, and she could feel his longing and passion for her grow each time they were together around others as the time they spent carrying on this affair lenghthened. And that is why, Sharpay thought that just maybe, he would want to be able to stop hiding their relationship. That it would be a relief to him as much as it would be to her, to be able to reach out and kiss Sharpay in mid-conversation in front of his jock friends, just for the hell of it, because he felt his lips needing hers, when words failed him as they so often failed her. But obviously, Troy had not reached that point. She could only allow herself to think of their situation as developing, convincing herself that at some point, Troy would want to be with her and only her, and would stop caring about who knew. It was the only way she could justify what she was doing, without feeling pathetic, because she knew she would never be able to end this on her own. If it ended, and the thought of it doing so was almost unbearable to her, if it ended, it would be by Troy Bolton breaking her heart, and leaving her, once again, completely alone in the world of people to pick up the peices by herself. She couldn't help but love Troy, she didn't know why she did, she'd loved him for years, she'd loved him before she'd even gotten to know him, and she knew that to most that wouldn't make any sense at all. But she loved Troy Bolton because he was the only other human being she was inclined to love, the only person she'd ever felt a normal earthly connection with. And the idea of him never loving her back was something she couldn't accept, and one she would firmly deny herself if ever presented with it.

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**A/N: I realize this chapter is dialogueless, and rather short and uneventful. But I actually really like it. I wanted to have a chapter just to give insight into how Sharpay feels and why she's doing this, showing that Troy means a lot more to her than just sexual encounters. Anyways, pleeeeeeeeeease review, I'm desperate for recognition and attention! haha. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm sick, which means I'm not going to have much of a life this weekend. (Missing a party today...grrr.) So, that means y'all will be getting several story updates. So enjoy, and if you want to make a sick girl feel better, you'll post your reviews. ;)**

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Sharpay had her legs wrapped tightly around Troy's waist, the shower water falling on both of them, masking thier sweat. Her eyes had lolled up towards the back of her head, and she could feel her body shaking like she was on the verge of an epileptic attack. He had perfected himself so that by this point, each time they made love he was able to find her dime size G-spot in no time, with expert ease, creating such pleasure for her throughout their love making that sometimes she was afraid she would truley faint into Troy's arms, no longer able to process the greatness of her gratification. Unintelligible noises poured from her mouth, sometimes only in murmurs, other times loudly, crying out when Troy hit her harder than she'd planned, or when he came back far to quickly for her to recover, which is what was causing her body's uncontrolable shakes in the first place. She dug her nails into his back, grabbing him, making sure she held on to him with all her strength, feeling his flesh give way as her nails peirced it, the crescent shapes she left were in the form of small wounds.

Troy was clutching her to him, his hands firmly around her wet skin, the sound of her moans and girlish squeals driving him insane. He knew her body so well by now, to a far greater extent than he knew any other man would ever be capable of. He knew exactly how to navigate himself, what areas needed the most attention, whether it was the places on her neck when they were simply kissing, the various points of delight on her body while foreplay was ensueing, or the points when they were fully engaged in making love, the places that made her pant and cling to him, and the ones that stirred sweet moans from deep inside of her. The noises she was making now were uncontrollable by her at this point, and rarely stopped. They were desperate as always, places far within her pushed them out, trying to make her express to him feelings that she herself couldn't understand. Many of them were meant to reward him, to urge him to push further, express how much she wanted him and how greatly he was fullfilling this want. The others were almost a plea to stop, and they came from the sadness that helped shape who she was, a dark area of her heart that was only revealed to him during these times. They begged him to leave her be, stop what he was doing because it created too much pleasure for her. They revealed her perceptions that deep down she truly knew she didn't deserve to experience the wonderful feelings that Troy Bolton gave to her, and they fueled a hungry fear in her that willed him to leave her now before she needed him too much, for she was deathly afraid of his leaving her. These dark feelings of hers were something the two of them wordlessly shared, knowing they came from the burden that both of them carried, the knowledge that his leaving her at some point was not an improbable possibility.

When he heard these noises admist her happy ones, he would grasp for her hysterically, trying with all his might to hold on to her. He was afraid of losing her, afraid for himself and that he might in fact abandon her, something he would never want to do, which is why he tried so hard to shove the voice of reason that dwelled in his mind away from him, locking it away. Whenever he was alone, this moral and practical voice crept back in his head, telling him to end this affair before it grew too out of hand. And in the most recent days this voice had only grown more frusterating to Troy, for now it couldn't make up it's mind. It had grown morally confused, not sure if it was right for Troy to break up with Gabriella or for him to end things permanetly with Sharpay, neither of those possibilites being ones he was willing to face. What was worse, is that not only was Troy finding it hard to follow his head, because it confused him so, but his heart was growing unintelligible to him as well. Sharpay had snuck her way into it, something he had never intended to happen, and he was unaware of just how large a part of it she now occupied. He was also wondered if the part of his heart that Gabriella held was still a growing one, one that would continue to enlarge forever, or if now he should lock it, and let her dwell there as part of the past, the way he had with his five year old first kiss, his now deceased grandfather, and Skylar Holmes, his best friend throughout elementary school that had grown up across the street from him, but moved away long ago.

Arms wrapped tightly around one another, each reaching their individual climax, Sharpay and Troy both called out over the fall of the shower water. Troy tilted his head up in his final moments and pressed his mouth firmly against Sharpay's, desperate for his lips' contact with his own. She kissed him back just as fervently, all of her noises being released into his mouth, down his throat, becoming a part of him now as well. Finally they finished, and he let her slide down the shower wall. She panted breathily and he too tried to get his breath's pace to return to normal, heaving heavily. The shower water had run cold, but neither of them attended to it, both still holding each other close. Sharpay leaned her head into Troy's chest, squeezing her arms aruond him tightly, still shaky and needing his support. He lent it to her, wrapping his arms all the way around her, and clutching her tightly to him. He needed to get out of this shower, he needed some air. He needed to be away from her, even if it was only at a few feet's difference, he didn't care. He just needed to clear his head and calm himself. He needed these unbelievably strong feelings he held for the girl in his arms to fade away enough for him to attempt to decipher them.

Finally, Sharpay reached down and turned the faucet off. She stepped out of the shower, Troy following behind her. Sharpay shut her eyes to the steam dancing around the bathroom, and felt Troy wrap a fluffy white towel around her, rubbing her softly with it, as if to help dry her off. She leaned her back into Troy, and tilted her head back until she could see him. She smiled contentedly, shutting her eyes again as he kissed her forehead, his hands still rubbing her body softly through the soft towel. When he felt he'd sufficently dried her torso, he brought the towel up to her hair, wringing the water out and massaging her head gently. Sharpay's eyes remained closed, but her close lipped smile curled open, and he recognized it enough, knowing the affection that was pooling in the eyes she kept safely covered under her lids. He kissed her shoulder blade, and then stepped away from her, taking the time to dry himself off. Sharpay felt a rush of cool air behind her and hurried to he hook on the bathroom door, wrapping her fluffy bathrobe around her frame, eyeing Troy as he towel dried off. She could picture a photograph being taken of him from the waist up exactly as he was now being plastered across Abercrumbie and Fitch catalogs.

Finished, he pushed past her, entering her bedroom, cool by comparison to the steamy bathroom. He slipped his boxers back on and his t-shirt, and looked at the clock. It was 8:30 at night. It was Saturday, and he was supposed to have been at Chad's an hour ago, where he'd told his parents already he'd be spending the night. The whole gang would be there until around midnight for movies and then the rest of them would go home.

"Shit." he muttered.

"What?" Sharpay asked, entering the room, touseling her fingers through her damp hair.

"I'm suppost to be at Chad's right now." Troy said, picking up his phone, "Gabriella's called me six times, and let's see... nine text messages as well." Troy sighed, "I guess I'll tell her I fell asleep or something, and am heading over now." He prepared to call his girlfriend.

Sharpay suprised him by covering the phone's screen with her delicate hand, pulling it away from him. "Don't." she said simply, her voice breathy, high still from their time in the shower, "Stay." she said simply, hopefully, her voice blissfull and serene, almost musical.

"Stay?" Troy asked, suprised that he was actually considering her proposition.

Sharpay nodded, "Please?" she asked him, lowering her head to the floor some, and peeking up at him through her eyelashes.

"Uh...O-okay." Troy was completely shocked by his answer, but goddamn, Sharpay's eyes were so beautful and hope filled, and he felt his heart flooding with affections for this girl suddenly, he couldn't say no.

Sharpay smiled softly, and walked towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck, and pecking him on the lips, "Thank you." she said.

"My pleasure." Troy replied, feeling a grin tug at his mouth along with the shocking knowledge that the two words he just spoke were entirely true.

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**A/N: Okay so, after I wrote the last chapter about how Sharpay feels about Troy and the affair, I decided that it made sense to follow it with a chapter giving ensight to Troy's thoughts and emotions. I said this was going to be around ten chapters, but now I'm thinking like fifteen, I guess we'll see. Anyways, reviews are emensely appreciated. :p xoxo.**


	6. Chapter 6

Sharpay softly kissed Troy's chest, his arms draped carelessly around her, one hand constantly rubbing up and down her back. They'd been like this for a very long period of time, lying on her bed, close together. Troy would occasionally take the time to feast on her neck, kissing and lightly sucking it, while continuing his hand's everlasting motion on her back. Sharpay would take turns with him, kissing his chest like she was at the moment, when he wasn't enjoying her neck. They were both in clothes, the top half of his shirt left unbuttoned. They weren't anywhere near sex right now, they were just cuddling. And it was nice. Sharpay couldn't think of any better feeling in the world than the one that overcame her when Troy held her. Sex was amazing, probably the next best feeling on her list. But when Troy held her she felt love and comfort and irrational happiness, and it was wonderful.

"This is nice." Troy murmured, very quietly, staring at the wall, enjoying the feel of her body next to his, "I'm glad I stayed here instead of going to some stupid party. I like to listen to you breathe."

Sharpay smiled, and ran her nails up and down Troy's chest, gently scratching it, "I wish we could always be like this Troy." she said softly.

"Sometimes I do to." Troy said. He kissed the top of her head, "Sometimes I think that being with you is the _only_ thing that will make me happy, but other times..." Troy trailed off, not intending to finish his sentence.

Sharpay finished it for him, "You think Gabriella's the one who makes you happy?" she asked.

"I don't know Pay." Troy said, "When I'm around you, I feel so at peace and part of a whole, like I'm incomplete or something when I'm not with you. But I wonder if that's just because I'm cheating on my girlfriend and feel guilty about it, and being with you makes me feel less alone, because we commit these acts together."

Sharpay couldn't believe how openly he was discussing this with her. His words stung, though he hadn't intended at all for them to. He wasn't saying what she wanted to hear, he wasn't admitting any true love towards her, despite the passion she saw in his eyes when he looked at her and felt in his body when they made love. His words remained hollow, free of attachment to her or Gabriella. It was his custom to speak this way, completely honest and out in the open, his words unclouded with bias emotions.

Sharpay imagined in her mind herself looking up at him at this moment and saying, "I love you," the way she had longed to so many times before. Yet she restrained herself now as she had all times prior, unable to handle the inevitable rejection she would face when he didn't return the words.

"Would it really be that big of a deal to break up with her, and give us a chance?" Sharpay asked him. She gazed up at him with her large brown eyes, waiting for him to meet hers with his own.

"Shar, it's complicated. You know that." Troy sighed, stroking her back, "Let's just enjoy the night, okay?" He lifted her t-shirt up over her head, kissing down the valley between her breasts. His tongue flicked over the nipple of one, Sharpay's breathing growing slightly more labored, as she slid one hand into his messy air-dried hair.

She couldn't help but feel like they were digressing. This was what the two of them always did to avoid any conflict, they reduced to sex. They used it as a relief from stress, used it to avoid any serious conversations they weren't willing to deal with, and they used it as a release from the feelings she knew they both felt. Sex provided an outlet for Troy; a way to secretly say to Sharpay everything he couldn't actually say to her, without him ever having to admit these emotions to her or himself.

Troy was kissing her breasts aimlessly, without any apparent intentions of progressing onto sex. He was merely enjoying a part of her body he happened to favor. He took a strange pride in them at school, when he saw other guys admiring Sharpay's body as they so often did, he felt his chest puff with the knowledge that he was the only one to ever touch her. He relished in this knowledge later in bed with her, and was doing so now, thinking of how so many boys' fantasys and wet dreams must have been of kissing Sharpay Evans' where he was now. This made him kiss her breasts more roughly, then he softened his kisses again, until they faded into small suckles that avected small murmurs and moans from Sharpay.

He decided to continue to pleasure her, feeling guilty for their conversation, knowing he'd dissapointed her yet again. He pulled her pajama shorts down her legs, leaving her clad in only a pair of black underwear. He ran a finger along the outside of her panties, feeling the outline of her entrance through the fabric. Sharpay let out a long low moan. Troy wondered if Ryan had heard her. It would have been kind of hard not to. He pushed images of Sharpay's brother out of his head, not wanting to be focusing on that mental image while at the same time dealing with the phsyical situation.

He pushed his thumb up through the underwear to her clit, moving the thumb around it a few times, while pressing up and down. He could feel the fabric dampening, so he pulled the underwear down out of the way, inserting two fingers into her. He pushed up and down a couple of times, neither fast nor hard.

"Shit." she muttered. He smiled. She cussed in the bedroom, something that was far rarer for her other places.

"Faster?" he asked.

"Yeah." she sighed.

Troy pumped his fingers up her a few more times.

"That feels so good." Sharpay said to him, his encouragement to continue. He began pushing his fingers in and out of her, his speed growing faster and faster, until his whole arm was getting a workout just to keep the two fingers moving fast enough. Sharpay vocalized her pleasure loudly, like she always did, a fact he was thankful for, as her noises always turned him on more. As he could feel her building, and soon to reach her climax, his phone began to ring loudly.

"Ignore it." he commanded roughly, continuing his fingers' fast repetitive motion, "Just keep saying my name."

"Troy!" she responded. The phone's annoying ringtone continued on, seeming to speed in tempo as Sharpay finally did reach her climax, loudly groaning as she came into the bedsheets.

"Was that good?" Troy asked her, crawling up the bed and kissing her now sweaty forehead.

"So good." Sharpay responded, kissing his lips. "I feel much better."

"Good." Troy's phone began to go off again. Sighing, he reached for it on the nightstand.

"It's Gabriella again." Troy said, looking at the name displayed on the id, "I never did call and tell her I wasn't coming. She's probably really worried about me."

"Just ignore her Troy." Sharpay mumbled.

"No, I should probably answer. She is my girlfriend afterall.

"Yeah, and I'm just your fuckbuddy." Sharpay grumbled. Troy shot her a hurt look as he flipped his phone open.

"Hey Gabs." he said. "...Yeah...I know I'm so sorry....No, no, listen... No.... Gabriella... I have a stomach bug.... Yeah... Thank you... No I'm okay. I just fell asleep and didn't get your calls. I'm sorry...No! No, don't come over. I'm so sick, it's disgusting. You might catch it....I know....I hate that I missed it...I'll just have to wait to see you on Monday I guess. As hard as that is to do." Troy laughed loudly. Not the real one that Sharpay loved, but the fake curetous one, the one she hated.

"Okay. Bye baby. I love you too." Troy hung up the phone. Sharpay was staring at him angrily.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

"You call me baby." she said.

"So?" Troy asked.

"So, you call us both baby. I don't want you calling me the same name you call all your other girlfriends." Sharpay crossed her arms across her chest.

"All the other ones? Slow down there. There's no plural in that, it's just the other one. And that's Gabriella." Troy said, defensive.

"Well you can't call me anything you call her." Sharpay insisted.

"Why not?" Troy asked.

"Because I'm special." Sharpay said. She said the words like they were a definite, locking her jaw into a serious she glanced back at him in doubt, chewing her bottom lip, praying fiercely that it was true.

"You are special." Troy said, smiling softly at her. He sat back down on the bed next to her, and caressed her cheek with his hand. He kissed her gently, "You're very special." he said, looking into her chocalate eyes as he pulled away.

Sharpay still looked upset when he brought his face back from hers. "How come she gets an 'I love you'?" Sharpay asked.

Troy looked at a loss for words for this question. His mouth gaped.

"It's not even true." Sharpay said, "You don't love her. I'm almost sure of it. And I also think that somewhere inside of you, it really is me that you _do _love."

"Sharpay, I don't know what to say." Troy said hoarsely, "To be honest I'm not really sure how exactly I feel right now. But I do think I love Gabriella, even if I have to accept that I love you both."

Sharpay glared at Troy heatedly. Suddenly a wave a nausea hit her.

"Shit." she muttered. She jumped up and ran to the bathroom just in time for the upcoming vomit to land in the toilet.

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**A/N: kind of a gross ending, I know. haha. anyways, please please review. Thank you so much to everyone who has. Okay so pretty soon we'll find out something about Sharpay. So review, so I'll be motivated to update soon. :) xoxo.**


	7. Chapter 7

Troy pressed the palm of his hand on her sweaty forehead, as she dry heaved, still recovering from the puking. He ran his hand over the top of her tangled mass of hair that he'd helped hold back during her second spell of vomiting.

"Is it coming again?" he asked her, trying to offer some comfort by keeping his hand located on her head, but not wanting to invade her personal space and risk being regurgitated on.

She shook her head, "I think it passed. Water."

"Water." Troy agreed. He helped her stand up and guided her to the sink, grabbing a clear plastic cup from the counter and filling it for her. She rinsed her mouth with it, and spit the water out, repeating this process several times.

"Do you feel sick?" Troy asked her.

Sharpay glared at him, wiping her mouth dry of the water with the back of her hand.

"Right." Troy muttered, "Well obviously the puke. I mean, is anything else wrong with you? You seemed perfectly fine a few minutes ago."

"You talking with Gabriella like that, and all this stress, it just made me sick... literally apparently." Sharpay chuckled darkly and shook her head.

Troy was suddenly engulfing her in his arms, hugging her tight to his chest, kissing the top of her head repeatedly. She stumbled off balance a little upon the immediate contact, but he held her steady in his arms. Her nose was pressed up against the cotton of his button down shirt, which had twisted sideways, so that she only came in contact with the fabric and not his skin. She could feel the heat of her breath burning her face having no other means of escape route. For a moment she tried to resist him, and pull away. But she didn't last long. The brute force of Troy's arms was intoxicating to her. She couldn't fall, she couldn't pull away, she couldn't shove him off of her, and for some reason, that was a good feeling. She had only one option and it was to stay confined to the strength and security of Troy's musuclar arms, while he covered her in kisses from above, his lips' vigor growing each time they met against the head of blonde hair. The impending force on the top of her head also released a lot of the pressure that had built up inside of her head, and that's when she realized...

"I have a headache." she managed to say, finding it difficult to do with her lips mashed against fabric and her breath expanding so very little.

"What?" Troy allowed her to free her head, sliding his arms a little lower past her shoulders, still holding her firmly in his grasp. He was scared she would runaway from him, even if she only backed away a few feet, and that would give her time to close off her emotional attachments. She was good at doing it. He saw the performance at school daily, as well as on numerous other occasions. And once she did that, she could be a serious bitch, for no reason at all. And in Troy's case, there was actual cause to bitch, so to speak. At the moment, he needed to hug her, to feel her love him, and she would no longer allow him to do that once he let her out of his arms. Troy could be extremely selfish at times, and what was worse was that he was well aware of it. He knew she loved him, he'd known for some time. He knew she loved him already the day in the auditorium that led to the night they first slept together, though he didn't think that then she herself was even aware that the feelings she got when around him were anything beyond teenage hormones. He felt security knowing undoubtedly that she loved him, while at the same time he was aware of the constant doubt that shadowed her, causing her to suffer and writhe in uncertainty. But he did nothing to stop it because he, Troy Bolton, the upholder of moral standards among students of East High, was selfish. So selfish that he seduced and took advantage of her, Sharpay Evans, the ice queen bitch from hell whose torment of others was haulted only by the state of oblivian brought about by extreme self interest. Or so it would seem. It was this same self-centeredness that Troy posessed that willed him to continue to clutch her to him as they spoke.

"I have a headache." she repeated.

"Nausea and a headache?" Troy asked. Sharpay nodded.

"Come on, why don't you lie down." He wrapped one arm around her, freeing her from the other one, and led her back into the bedroom, helping her sit down onto the matress. Sharpay lay down and stared up at the ceiling for a second, unmoving. Troy felt her forehead.

"You don't feel warm." he stated. "I'm going to go downstairs and get some medicine and some Sprite or something for you, okay?"

Sharpay nodded, not looking at him. Damn it, why could't Troy Bolton ever say anything comforting. "I love you Sharpay." would be enough. She just needed to hear him say it one time. If not love, wasn't there something he could say at this moment to convery affection and assure her that she was going to be okay. "You mean so much to me." or "I couldn't live without you." were just a fgew suggestions. Suddenly, she felt on the verge of tears, which is why she kept her head in neutral position, her eyes looking up at the ceiling, to prevent the liquid springing out slightly from behind her eyes from falling. He'd never seen her cry, and she certainly wouldn't allow it now. In fact, no one close to her had witnessed her crying since she was a small child, including her brother and parents. It wasn't that she never cried. She cried all the time. But every time she was engaging in a fight with her parents or arguing with Ryan and felt tears begin to well, she ran to a place of hiding until the sobs were sustained, and she felt in control again. The worst of it was when she was at school and had heard one too many comments for a single day, often from students she didn't even know, insulting her character. Nasty slut. Heartless bitch. No one could feel good about themselves after hearing that day in and day out, no matter how hard the glittery bags and ultra high heels tried to convince otherwise.

Troy had seen the evidence of tears themselves on her face once, though she had shoved back the sobs the moment he entered the room. It had been last summer, after Troy had walked out on singing with her in the summer talent show. Because he too, thought what they all thought. Superficial bitch. Sure, her morals were questionable at times. But he hadn't understood that she didn't care about some stupid plastic trophy earned in a talent show that was so obviously already rigged in her favor. She had cared about him, she had needed him, and he had walked out on her. Troy had walked in that night, where she had been crying at her vanity. She stopped herself from crying, and she managed to crack a joke. A small one, but one that still sufficed her ego enough until he was gone. She had sat in her chair that night, staring into the teary eyed girl in the mirror, for the first time truly _hating_ who she saw, because she was afraid that was what he saw when he looked at her. That he hated her. And she had thought to herself that the worst feeling in the entire world was having Troy Bolton walk out on her. But she knew now that the worst thing to happen to her would be to let Troy Bolton see her cry because he had walked out on her. She needed her pride if nothing else. It was something to cling to, and to feed to all the students who upheld her to such demanding expectations.

"No." she said, as Troy was already walking towards the door.

"Huh?" he turned around.

"No, don't try to help me." Sharpay sat upright in the bed, "Make a choice. Now."

"What?" Troy tried to play dumb for his ownsake for a few more minutes, pretending not to comprehend what she was saying.

"Pick me, and only me, or get out of my house." she said, suprised at how firm she sounded, despite the fact that her insides were quaking. She wasn't going to let Troy walk away when the time came and cause her to cry. She was beating him to the punchline.

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**A/N: Please review? PS: I promise, the next story I update will be Spring Break, as that is my most popular one. I'm sorry that I'm falling behind on updates. I try to make my rounds fairly, but sometimes I get a little caught up in certain ones for a while. Anyways, as always, thank you so much for your amazing reviews if you've dropped one, and if you haven't, here's your chance. :) xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo. **


	8. Chapter 8

"Pick me, and only me, or get out of my house." she said, suprised at how firm she sounded, despite the fact that her insides were quaking. She wasn't going to let Troy walk away when the time came and cause her to cry. She was beating him to the punchline.

Troy stared dumbfounded at her for a few seconds, and then blinked heavily, shaking his head. "Sharpay, you knew what this was, I mean, I-I-I care about you, you know I do, but I just can't...I mean... Sharpay y-you're the one who...I mean this was an affair...Are you saying you want to end it?" he looked at her where she sat across the room on her white bedspread hoping that she'd only had a momentary lapse and would forget her previous statement.

Sharpay swallowed hard. He had yet to directly answer her question, but she realized with a horrifying sinking feeling that she had just gotten her answer. Sharpay had asked him to choose her over Gabriella, and Troy had replied, "Are you saying you want to end it?" What he was really saying when he asked this was that if she was going to make him choose, then he was going to choose to end things with her.

"I want to end the hiding. I don't want to end us." Sharpay said softly, "I want a relationship with you."

"We have a relationship." Troy argued.

"I want a steady, exclusive relationship." Sharpay said, looking him directly in the eyes, "I want to be the only one you kiss. I want to be the only one you want to kiss. And I want to be able to kiss you whenever I want, instead of running around secretly. I want you to call _me _for check-ins and I want you to tell _me _you love me. Not her." Sharpay chose not to say Gabriella's name, knowing it would hurt too much if Troy left in a second, knowing it would be because he wanted to be with her.

Troy was silent for a moment that felt like an eternity. He licked his lips. His expression was pained. He looked down at the palms of his hands, opening them up to his eyes. He looked back up at the blonde beauty sitting amongst the sheets, _his_ blonde beauty the past few weeks, and still his now if he decided to break up with his girlfriend for her. He sighed loudly, and walked towards the bed. Sharpay looked up at him in wonder as he stopped in front of her. He brushed some hair behind her ear, and cupped his hands around her face. He held her face and looked at it for what seemed like forever, looking deep into her honey brown eyes. He finally leaned down to kiss her ever so softly, their lips touching briefly in a sweet embrace. He finally rested his forehead against hers. Sharpay smiled, both their eyes closed, feeling safe in his arms, and relieved.

"I'm sorry Sharpay." he said.

Sharpay's face crumpled as she registered the weight of his words. The bastard! She had completely misread this kiss, had thought of it as the beginning of something new and wonderful, but it was...an ending. He was leaving her. He wouldn't choose her. In those three words he had chosen that raven haired beauty over the blonde one in his arms. In those three words, he had ended all hope of him saying another three worded phrase she had longed so desperately to hear him say to her for so long.

"What?" She said, pulling back, her devastated expression having completely given way to tears. Sobs began to come uncontrolably, a strong fear of hers coming true; She was crying in front of Troy. But she was at a point beyond caring by now. If she had to put down her defenses for Troy to see how truly helpless she was, how badly she honestly needed him, albeit. She had to keep herself from shouting, "Don't leave me!" at him admist the sobs that now choked and gagged her, and blurred her vision, mascara seeping in and burning at her eyeballs. She wouldn't say that. She was Sharpay fucking Evans, and if nothing else, she had dignity. Love, friendship, happiness, these things were inconsistent for any human being, but Sharpay always had her pride.

"Baby don't cry." Troy said. She could hear the raw emotion in his voice. The _pity. _No man would ever pity her. She redirected all of her overwhelming emotions into the anger that was now filling her.

"Don't call me baby." she said, in a voice so filled with hatred that he backed away from her as if her words had somehow been able to inflict physical pain on him. She reached for something, anything, to hit him with. She came back with only a pillow but she began to beat it against his torso, her tears and cries coming out in furies of rage now. When the pillow slipped from her grip onto the ground, she began to beat her tiny fists against him, as hard as she could, squinching her eyes shut and screaming everytime she made contact with his body.

"Sweetie. Sweetie, shhhh." He was trying to bring his arms around her, trying to calm her, to console her, comfort her. She wanted him to fucking love her!

"Get out." she said.

"Sharpay." Troy looked very sorry, and tried again to hug her.

"Get out!" she screamed at the top of her lungs this time. The noise caused Ryan, who had been hearing commotion but up until this point had chosen to ignore it, to swing open the door of his sister's bedroom, glancing around worriedly.

Troy took a step back from Sharpay, but didn't leave the room, fidgeting nervously, wringing his hands, trying to figure out what he could do to appease his mistress.

"What's going on?" Ryan asked. He said it to Sharpay, and only Sharpay, and Troy knew it. He remained silent.

"Get out!" Sharpay screamed again at Troy, her voice cracking. She was horrified with herself, and how shameless she was being with her emotions but there was no reason to stop now. "Ryan please, I want him to leave. Please. Just make him go." She said to her brother, bringing her knees to her chest. She found a pillow and held it against her legs, trying to calm herself down enough to think logically.

"Sharpay." Troy tried once more to get her to be rational and talk to him.

"She asked you to get out." Ryan said. Troy was suprised at how angry he sounded, despite the even tone he tried to keep in his voice.

Troy turned to the blonde boy"I'm just trying-"

"My sister asked you to leave her alone." Ryan interrupted, walking towards Troy, "Just respect her wishes and get out." He glanced towards the bed where his sister sat, trying to redeem herself from her state of hysterics and felt surges of anger rushing through his body towards the arrogant jock who had done that to the sister he loved, the one he'd even shared a womb with before birth.

"Leave." Ryan said firmly to Troy, only feet away from him now.

"Hey man," Troy said, unphased, "easy. I just-"

Troy was unable to finish his sentence as a powerful fist landed smack across his jaw, sending his head backwards in a fit of whiplash. Troy felt like his brain was rattling inside of his skull, and he braced himself as he steadied, ready to rebound the initial hit. He glared at Ryan angrily, and started to bring his fist up, but was stopped when he saw Sharpay. She was still sitting on the bed, knees brought up to her chest. But the crying and hysteria had stopped. She had fallen into that serene state after a fitful cry. Her face was covered in tear stains and streaks of mascara, and her eyes were glossy. But she was staring at him intently now, her jaw hung open. He knew she would never forgive him if he hit her brother now. The hatred he had already stirred in her would settle. He would dissapoint her even more. And he couldn't bare to do that.

He eased his stance, and dropped his hands defensively at his sides. He looked at Sharpay sadly, truly sorry for everything he had put her through. He wanted to make her happy, to make everything okay. But he had a girlfriend. He had obligations to Gabriella, they had made serious plans, he was committed long before he had begun to develop feelings for Sharpay.

"I'm sorry." Troy said to Ryan, glancing only afterwards at Sharpay again. He looked back at his assualter, "I'll leave." he told him.

Then Troy turned and walked out of the bedroom, leaving the two twins alone.

Ryan looked at Sharpay, "I'm sorry Shar." he said softly, "What happened?"

"He didn't pick me." Sharpay said, spacing out, staring at the pink wall, never turning to face her brother. "I asked him to make a choice." she let out a shaky breath.

Ryan had warned Sharpay. He knew this wouldn't end favorably for her. But he didn't chose to point this out now. "I'm so sorry. Do you want to talk?" he asked her instead.

"No." she said.

"Are you-"

"I'm sure." she said, "Please, I just want to be alone."

Ryan nodded, and walked out of her room, shutting the door behind him, leaving Sharpay as alone as she felt.

* * *

"Ow!" Sharpay yelled, shoving Ryan hard away from her. He slammed into the hallway wall.

"What was that for? I was just playing." Ryan said defensively.

"You call an assualt to my chest 'just playing'?" Sharpay replied cooly. She rubbed her tender breasts softly, hissing with the aching pain.

Ryan eyed her for a second. "I'm sorry I ran into you." he said, "But seriously I barely tapped your chest. Uh, does it really hurt that badly?" he said hesitantly.

Sharpay glared at him, both knowing what the other was thinking.

"Sorry, sorry." Ryan held his hands up.

"Just leave me alone." Sharpay hissed, seething.

"Moody much?" Ryan grumbled under his breath.

Sharpay turned around to face him, and he saw the horrified expression at his harmless words.

"I didn't mean anything by that!" Ryan said, and Sharpay nodded gravely, turning around to leave for her room.

It had been two weeks since Troy had left Sharpay, and a very stressful two weeks they had been for her. At school she did all she could to avoid even looking at him, and she also found herself unable to look at Gabriella, afraid she would be too transparent and reveal the mixed guilt and hate. Unable to even look at Gabriella, as well as many of Troy's friends, she seemed to become devoid of some of her icy-ness, as the Wildcats and the braniacs were her favorite subjects of nasty jokes. She hadn't completely transformed though. In fact, girls in the hallway who were unlucky enough to get in the way of her path, or students who were guilty of small crimes such as popping their gum too loudly or standing too close to her personal space were chastised much more harshly than ever in the past. She flew off on a rage that neared tantrum at times, unable to control the extreme amount of irritableness she had felt the past few weeks.

Sharpay had become aware of her rapid moodswings, as her brother never failed to point them out. Her testiness accompanied by her swollen breasts, unusual waves of nausea sometimes accompanied by vomiting, and the frequent headaches were too much for her brother to ignore. But she ignored them, hoping that if she did, the fear that nestled in the pitt of her stomach would never become a reality and would simply go away with time. But her period had been due a week and a half ago and she was growing more and more unsettled with the uncertainty at the back of her brain.

She was sitting on her bed, trying to concentrate on the magazine she was leafing through, when there was a soft knock on the door.

"What?!" She called impatiently to her brother on the other side of the closed door. Ryan stepped in tentatively.

"Knock knock." he said as he entered the room.

Sharpay sighed loudly, "Can I help you? I'm busy."

"Oh yeah, I'll let you get back to that very important issue of Cosmo in a second sis." Ryan said sarcastically, "But I got you a gift."

Sharpay's face brightened considerably and she looked up at him gleefully, for the first time noticing a paper bag in his hand.

"Ooh. What'd you get me?" she asked.

"You wouldn't get it yourself, so I went down to the drugstore and picked it up." he said throwing the bag at her.

Sharpay frowned at him. There was nothing in a drugstore that would be of interest to her. Cheap makeup. Bottled soft drinks. Advil. Nothing that would make a good present. Sharpay opened the paper bag and reached in. She pulled out the only item and her eyes widened as they came to terms with what her brother had given to her.

"Why the hell would you give me this?" She looked up at him angrily.

"Take it." he said.

"No. I don't need to. This is stupid." Sharpay tried to sound cool as she threw the small box on the bed and crossed her arms as if to shun it.

"Sharpay!" Ryan's voice was harsher than she would have expected and she dropped her arms, looking up at him in shock.

"You can't stop ignoring this." Ryan said, "You're going to take that, today. You need to know now if you...are, as soon as possible so you can keep all your options open."

Sharpay sighed and picked up the box, opening and pulling out the home pregnancy test. Neither of them had yet to actually come out and use the word 'pregnant' or anything synonymous with it. They had merely danced around the subject.

"I'll go pee on the stick." she said begrudgingly. She looked back at her brother, "Come with me? Please." she held out her hand to him.

Ryan nodded and took her extended hand in his own, following his sister into the bathroom for the first time since he was six.

* * *

**A/N: Well, in the next chapter we'll finally find out if Sharpay is really preggers or if there's something else wrong with her. I wanted very much to bring physical harm to Troy in this chapter and as he is fictional and I could not, I had Ryan, also fictional, punch him in the face. Overall, I love Troy, but in this chapter, yeah he totally deserved it. Reviews are emensely appreciated as always!!!!! :):):) xoxo.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey guys! Okay, I need to go ahead and set up a warning for this chapter. The abortion references, and the fact that Sharpay is considering it: I understand that y'all will have different views on it. So if you are strongly against it, please do not grow offended, and please do not flame me in your reviews. This is a fictional baby. This is the point where the man's voice comes on and says: "No real fetuses were harmed in the making of this chapter." Okay? So please don't get angry with me, and I respect everyone's right to different views, I'm not making a statement on how I feel on the subject, blah blah blah, disclaimer. Moving on:**

* * *

Sharpay leaned in to Ryan, her left cheek pressed against his chest as she looked at the home pregnancy test on the counter from a distance, like it was a ticking time bomb. Ryan was trying to comfort her, his arms around his sister protectively, but she knew if she had to look down on a little plus sign, there would be no protection her brother could offer to her.

"How long do you think it's been?" she asked him, looking fiercely at the test, trying to develop telepathic skills that would display a negative sign on the screen.

"I don't know. A little while." Ryan was staring just as intensely at the spot on the counter where a small plastic object currently held Sharpay's future.

Sharpay slipped out of her twin's arms and crept near the counter. She took a few steps back again, shaking her head vehemently.

"I can't do it." she said, "Ryan? Can you look for me? Just tell me what it says."

Ryan nodded and gulped, walking foward, feeling his heart pounding just as much in anticipation. He picked up the test and stared down on it, then looked up at his sister's terrified face. She scanned over his own expression, trying to determine the answer from it.

"Plus or negative?" she asked, clenching her sweaty palms at her sides, trying to remain calm and brace herself for the worst.

"Shar," Ryan said slowly, "You know these things aren't always accurate the first time..."

"Oh god!" she brought a hand up to her mouth as tears sprang into her eyes, "It's positive isn't it?"

Ryan nodded solemnly as his sister burst into a fit of cries. Ryan felt a fresh surge of anger sprout within him for Troy, the basketball boy, who in only two short weeks had managed to make Sharpay cry more than Ryan had ever seen in their entire lifetime.

"Mom and Dad are going to hate me!" Sharpay yelled.

Ryan shook his head. "No they won't. Shar just calm down and-"

Sharpay screamed and grabbed the shower curtain, ripping it down off its rungs, needing something to take out her anger on. Ryan quickly jumped over to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, allowing her to soak the front of his shirt in her anguish.

"We'll get some more of these." he said, refering to the pregnancy test, "It could be wrong. They're wrong all the time."

Sharpay nodded, though both of them knew the chances of it being wrong were very slim. She showed all the early signs of a pregnant woman, that was undeniable.

"And if it's right?" she asked, looking up at her brother with her brown watery orbs.

Ryan sighed, "Then you'll have some big choices to make."

* * *

Ryan stared at his sister, curled up into a ball in fetal position, sobbing into a stuffed hippo.

"You know you have to tell him." he said.

Sharpay sat up and glared at her brother, "Oh really?" she snapped, "Thanks for figuring that out, SHERLOCK." she hurled the hippo at him, sucessfully hitting him in the head.

"And Mom and Dad." Ryan said, "Well, I mean, that is, if you decide to keep it."

Sharpay sat up and sniffled, and looked at Ryan, realization dawning on her, "If I decide too..." she jumped off the bed and wrapped her arms tightly around Ryan, "Oh Ryan!"

"What?" he asked, stumbling back.

"I can just nip it in the bud!" she said. She kissed her brother's cheek and sighed, relieved, "I was so stressed after I found out, I couldn't even think about the other possibilities. Oh thank God! Now Troy will never have to know and neither will Mom or Daddy-"

"Woah, woah, wait." Ryan pushed his sister's embrace off of him, "Did you just say _Troy_ will never have to know?"

Sharpay nodded.

"Sharpay. You have to tell Troy." Ryan said, looking into her eyes seriously.

Sharpay shook her head furiously, "No I don't. I'll just go tomorrow and get this taken care of."

"Shar, it's his too." Ryan said, "It's not fair to not tell him."

Sharpay bit her lip and started to cry again. Ryan hugged her close to his chest once more.

"He's going to be so mad." she whimpered.

"What?" Ryan took a step back, "No he's not! It's his own damn fault! Good God!"

"It's not just his fault." she argued.

"Well, he's the jackass in this situation." Ryan grumbled. "Either way, he's not going to be mad at you."

Sharpay nodded and attempted to wipe her cheeks dry. Ryan helped, wiping his thumbs underneath her eyes.

"But regardless of Troy," he said, "You need to think very seriously about this and decide what's right for you. It's a big decision. You can't just make it on a whim out of fear."

Sharpay nodded gravely, and Ryan kissed her forehead assuringly.

* * *

Sharpay had been a bundle of unsteady nerves all day long. Throughout her classes with Troy she had stared at him intensely, trying to imagaine how she would break the news to him. He caught her looking at him often, glancing over at her and making her heart pound a mile a minute, before quickly looking away awkwardly. Sharpay just couldn't seem to look away. It seemed she was already thinking of Troy in a completely different way. Just a few short weeks ago, he was a cute teenage boy that she, a seventeen year old girl, hooked up with meaninglessly, as was allowed in youth. But now, everytime he caught her staring at him, she was staring at the _man_ who had put life inside of her.

It was at the end of the day, as she left her seventh period English class, that she decided she would tell him. She strode past her own pink locker without notice, on a mission as she walked in the direction towards Troy's.

Sharpay turned the corner and stopped, staring at Troy who was already at his locker. He was laughing with Gabriella, pecking her lips between sentences, looking happy and content. The two really were the emblem of poster perfect high school sweet hearts. And Sharpay felt a pang, reminded of what she had been to Troy. Sharpay was his object of lust. And evidentally, as he had proven a couple of weeks ago, nothing else. Gabriella was the one he loved with his heart.

Troy was wrapping his arms around the brunette when he spotted Sharpay staring at him, and her heart tweaked again when she saw the fear that rose in his eyes. He gave her a look that very clearly told her he did not want her to be in the presence of his girlfriend. Sharpay swallowed and walked slowly towards them, trying to seem as casual as possible as she approached the duo.

Gabriella turned around, away from Troy giggling and spotted Sharpay for the first time. Her giggle dwindled away and the intensity of her smile dropped a bit. She was always weary of Sharpay, prepared for insult, but that didn't stop her from saying,

"Hey Sharpay!" cheerily as ever, always ready to make friends whenever Sharpay let down her guard.

"Hey." Sharpay said solemnly.

Gabriella glanced back at Troy, giving him a look acknowledging that she thought something was up with Sharpay's behavior, and Sharpay felt a ripple of amusement go through her, as untimely as it was. Gabriella's overly exaggerated expressions, the extreme optimism, the cheery disposition that Sharpay had always branded sickly sweet. She really wasn't that bad. Maybe annoying at times, but genuinely a very nice person and somebody Sharpay might have even been friends with had her affections for Troy not been too much to ignore.

"Troy I need to talk to you, alone." she said.

Gabriella glanced back at Troy again, looking dejected, taking the situation as another failed attempt at being nice to Sharpay.

So Sharpay in her guilt added, "If that's okay with you." to Gabriella, not even registering the fact that she had just asked Gabriella's permission for something. Her mind was concerned with much bigger issues way beyond the ridiculousness of high school politics.

Gabriella nodded, and turned to kiss Troy on the cheek.

"Call you later." she said smiling. Sharpay was again amused. Did anybody really call each other just to chat anymore? Wasn't that the reason texting had been invented?

Gabriella placed a hand on Sharpay's shoulder, "I love your shoes." she said sincerely.

"Oh, yeah." Sharpay glanced down absent mindedly at the gold pumps on her feet, "Thanks. Uh, I like yours too."

Gabriella smiled, looking down at her own blue flats, "Thanks! Bye Troy!" she walked off, almost sort of skipping and Sharpay chuckled.

"What's up?" Troy asked. He placed a hand on his closed locker and stared at Sharpay, looking rather awkward and uncomfortable.

"I have something to tell you." Sharpay said. She saw the nervous expression that crept on Troy's face.

"Yeah?" he asked. Sharpay glanced around the hallways.

"Uh, can we go, somewhere private to talk for a second?" Sharpay asked him.

"Like where?" Troy asked. He placed a hand on Sharpay's arm, "I don't want to hook up with you Sharpay. I don't think that's really what you want either. I've hurt you enough, and that's all-"

"Troy, I'm not talking about hooking up." Sharpay cut him off, "I seriously need to talk to you."

"Oh." Troy's nervous state returned. "You want to talk out in my truck?" he offered.

Sharpay nodded.

"Okay."

The two walked in silence side by side out to the parking lot. A lot of the students had already left, but many still hung around, talking and laughing with friends, taking their time. The sight of Sharpay Evans and Troy Bolton getting into his truck together and having a long, probably very dramatic, conversation would definitely start talk around the school tomorrow, Sharpay was sure of it.

She pulled the slightly rusty handle of the baby blue truck's passenger door and got in it, slamming the door shut behind her. Troy joined her in the driver's seat and closed his own door. He placed his hands on the wheel and stared off through the windsheild not looking at Sharpay.

"So what's up?" he asked.

Sharpay realized how incredibly awkward the entire situation was and started to laugh.

"What?" Troy looked bewildered and Sharpay immediately stopped her laughter as soon as it had begun, remembering the weight of the situation, and knowing Troy would find nothing funny in it.

"Okay. Troy, I need to talk to you calmly, and we both need to act like adults about this, okay?" She searched his face, ready to start the next sentence based on her reaction.

"Um, okay." Troy breathed out heavily, "Sharpay you're making me really, really nervous."

"I know." she said, "Troy. Troy, look at me."

He turned to face her, his mouth going dry, and Sharpay suspected he already had a hunch on why she'd brought him out here. She made sure his eyes were fully focused on him, and took both of his hands in her own, softly. She gulped. She'd been so worried about how hard it was going to be to tell him that she hadn't even considered how hard it was going to be for him to hear.

"Troy." she said once more. She looked down at his hands, considerably larger than her own, and caressed them. She loved his hands. She loved everything about him. She loved him. She looked back up at his scared face that questioned her with his eyes, and said, "Troy, I'm pregnant."

* * *

**A/N: Cliffy, huh? Does it leave you hanging enough to review?? Well, please do. xoxo.**


	10. Chapter 10

"Troy? Troy say something." she shook his hands still encased in her own from side to side. He stared, wide eyed, mouth agape, right through her, completely unable to say a word.

"Troy?" she asked again. Nothing. Sharpay felt her emotions rising in her, threatening to bubble over. "Troy! You have to say something!" She had managed to remain rational through this, now he had to do the same. Okay, so that wasn't completely fair. Sharpay had been given ample time to cry and scream, all with her loving brother there to hold her when the time came. Troy had a right to be upset. But if he would just say something, anything, good or bad, Sharpay could help him through it. She could be there to love him and hold him when _he_ needed to be held.

He wasn't saying a word, so Sharpay decided to continue to talk to him until he came back.

"Troy." she said again, "Troy, I've been really really scared. You can't even imagine. These past two weeks have just been anguish, not knowing. But I was to afraid to do anything, afraid of finding out for sure I really was pregnant. Ryan finally forced me to take a test. Actually I took several. And I was such a wreck, I couldn't even think about telling you. I thought about just getting rid of it without anyone save me and Ryan ever knowing a thing."

Troy was looking at her now, his eyes running up and down her face, taking in her words. She could see life again behind his eyes. He was coming back to her.

She continued, "Ryan of course told me I had to talk to you about it. Troy, we need to work through this together, okay? Come to a decision we both agree on. But, you know, working through this together is going to require you to talk to me."

She let out a breath of relief and waited patiently for him to reply.

Troy slowly spoke, lifting her hands up in his, holding them close to his chest, and looking in her eyes, "This is really huge." he said.

Sharpay couldn't resist the sarcastic glare she shot back at him.

"But you already know that." he said, looking down at his jeans. He looked back up at her brown eyes and cleared his throat.

She could see how hard he was having to work at making an effort to remain calm and level headed, and part of her was grateful. She needed to be mature about this now. But another part of her almost wanted to see him scream and cry as much as she had, both for the satisfaction of seeing him go through the same toils as her, and also so that she too could return to this childlike state and cry with him. Maybe if they held each other and worked through the pain and the fear together, everything would be much better by tomorrow. Maybe, even, if they made love again, he would finally realize his feelings for her. But Sharpay knew that was out of the question and she hated herself for thinking about it right now. She needed to be brave on her own, and face her fears on her own, tackling the problem that no matter what Ryan said, she knew she was just as responsible for as Troy. She couldn't insist on depending on him now. He was never there to be dependable, that would have completely gone against the primis of an affair.

"Sharpay?" he asked softly. She realized now that she had been the one who was spacing out too long.

"Yes?" she asked.

Troy blew out a long breath, "I think the decision should be one hundred percent your own. And I...I'll support you no matter what you decide." he gulped.

Sharpay placed a hand on his cheek. She was shocked at how hot his skin felt. "We're going to work through this together. Like I said. And Troy, I don't think I could make the decision on my own. I don't think I'm strong enough. I-" her mouth began to quiver, twitching as she fiercely fought back tears.

"Ssssh." Troy placed two comforting arms around her, and she momentarily let go of all her anger towards him, allowing him to pull her into his chest and stroke her hair.

"Everything's going to be alright baby." he said. He kissed the top of her head.

She had told him he had no right to call her that again, and he still didn't, but she didn't feel like putting up a fight. She'd also thought to herself evertime she was with Troy Bolton that there was no place that made her feel more happy, content, or safe than in his arms. It was still true.

* * *

"Troy." she muttered against his chest, after they had remained like that for some time. All the student cars had emptied out of the parking lot, leaving Troy and Sharpay alone in his truck.

"Hm?" he asked. She knew that he had chosen to hold her tightly to him initialy to comfort her, but for some time after, to comfort himself. He wasn't ready to face the consequences of his actions, and keeping Sharpay, the only person who knew about them, pinned against him, he was able to pretend for a little while longer that they didn't exist.

"We aren't exactly making any progress here." She pulled away from his chest, dissapointed as she felt the warmth he had provided her rushing away from her body. "We really need to talk." she told him seriously.

Troy nodded, "I know."

"I mean I guess we have three options." she muttered.

Troy nodded and then paused, "Uh, what are they?"

"Well," Sharpay looked up at Troy, "I could have the baby and we could give it up for adoption." She searched his eyes before carefully mentioning the next option, hoping to sound as breezy as possible given the circumstances, "We could keep it and raise it together." His face remained the same, awaiting her third option. "Or," she continued, "We could just get rid of it now."

Troy looked off for a moment, then returned his gaze, "You mean abortion."

Sharpay nodded, "But Troy,-"

"Oh my gosh! That's so great!" Troy exclaimed.

Sharpay turned to him, rattled, "What do you mean?"

"I never would have suggested we abort in case it upset you, but if you're saying you're okay with it! Oh my goodness this is such a relief!" He smiled and put his hands up to his temples, massaging them with the heels of his palms.

"A relief..." Sharpay looked down at her own hands, fidgeting with them uncomfortably. She saw Troy place his over hers.

"Sharpay." he said. She looked up at him.

"Sharpay, that was the biggest scare of my life. Thank you so much." he said sincerely, "I think this really is an eye opening experience for the both of us though."

Sharpay looked up at him hopefully, "Really?" she asked.

Troy nodded, "Absolutely. We both will need to be much more careful in the future and not put ourselves in situations where this can happen. I'm going to work really hard on being honest and faithful. Maybe this was even a sign of karma." he chuckled a little.

Sharpay tried to swallow the very painful lump stuck in her throat, but was unsucessful. He took this all to be bad karma? That was a little too much for her to handle.

Troy cupped her cheek in his hand and angled her eyes directly towards his, "I'm so glad we were able to make this decision together." he said earnestly.

Again Sharpay tried her best to swallow the growing lump. She couldn't remember ever having made a decision.

"Do you need help, you know... making an appointment?" he asked, "Uh, do you want me to go with you."

Sharpay shook her head, unable to speak. He wasn't really giving her a chance. But she couldn't turn back on him now. He had been so relieved, so happy when he realized they wouldn't have to go through this.

"Do you need a ride home?" he asked.

Sharpay turned to him, dumbfounded. She felt like he was trying to kick her out now. She had to sustain the anger, it would only cause more tears, and she was growing so weary of crying.

"No." she managed, "I'm parked...in my spot."

Troy nodded. He reached across the seat, hugging her one final time, kissing the top of her head.

"B-Bye Troy." she said hurriedly. She reached for the passenger door and hopped out. She needed to get home and lay down. She couldn't process what she was going through at the moment. She didn't even know what she wanted, but she felt cheated. She deserved the oppurtunity to make her own decision, and she knew that, but Troy evidentally thought she had already made it, and she was still to yielding to his every whim. She just didn't want to upset him anymore. She wanted to make him happy, whatever that meant. It was complicated.

"Uh, bye." he replied, shocked at how quickly she had moved from his arms and out of his truck.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow." she mumbled, before slamming the door shut. It was a lie. They both knew it. Tomorrow, he would be back to trying to pretend Sharpay Evans had never existed in a vain attempt at what he thought would make him a better man.

When she was in her own car, she immediately turned the radio on, cranking the volume up far above comfort level, and quickly whipping out of the parking lot. She wasn't going to allow herself to think anymore about Troy Bolton tonight, or the baby the two had helped create. The baby. The volume on the radio went up louder, suceeding in giving Sharpay quite the headache. But the physical pain was nothing compared to the anguish she repressed inside.

* * *

**A/N: First off, you have no idea how badly I want to be able to give Sharpay a hug and tell her she doesn't need to listen to that blue eyed jackass any longer.**

**Second, as for the blue eyed jackass, I am having vision flashes in which Sharpay opens the door and shoves him out of the truck, then proceeds to back over him with it. Would serve him right.**

**Third, I still think the two make a beyond adorable couple, even if the male is turning in to quite the prick.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I couldn't wait, so you're recieving two updates in one day. (Well, actually it's the next day because it is now 12:41 at night on the east coast. But for you west-coasters, that won't matter anyways. Or for those of you in other countries.) Anywho, review please. :) xoxo.**


	11. Chapter 11

Sharpay walked stiffly into the kitchen, having just gotten home. She grabbed a glass out of the pantry and pushed the water dispenser in the side door of the refridgerator, filling it up.

"Sharpay?" Ryan's soft voice asked tentatively as he entered the kitchen.

She said nothing. She walked over to the counter and set down her glass, picking up a bottle of ibuprofen.

"Shar?" Ryan asked again.

Sharpay continued her silent mission, unscrewing the childproof lid, pouring out two round pills into her head.

"Do you have a headache?" Ryan gestured to the medicine.

Boy did she ever. Sharpay popped the pills in the back of her throat. She lifted the glass of water up, preparing to swallow the medication down. Suddenly her eyes bugged and she ran to the sink, spitting the pills out. They had just started to dissolve, and left a nasty taste on her tongue.

"Plech."

"I'm pretty sure those are okay to take when your pregnant. As long as it's the reccomened dosage, right?" Ryan said, understanding his sister's thought process.

Her eyes flashed. "How the hell should I know?" Sharpay snapped. "I'm seventeen you goddamn idiot! I don't know anything about this!"

"It's okay." Ryan said, "So, did you talk to Troy?"

"Obviously I talked to Troy!" Sharpay snarled.

"And?" Ryan's curiosity was too great for him to acknowledge the dangerous look in his twin's eyes that he had come to know so well.

Sharpay looked ready to lash out, and for a second Ryan feared she was about to fly off the handle. But then her eyes instead filled with sorrow, and she shook her head softly.

"Please, Ryan. I don't feel like talking." She pushed him aside gently and left the room.

"Shar." Ryan followed her, "You don't have to talk. But if you need anything, I'm here."

Sharpay didn't reply and shut the door to her bedroom, locking it before Ryan could enter.

* * *

Troy stared up at his ceiling, laying back on his bed. He missed Sharpay. She had become his first bad habit over the weeks of their relationship, if it was right to call it a relationship. Throughout the course of those weeks, he hadn't even realized how big a part of his life she had become. He had built all his free time around her, and when he couldn't be with her, he spent most of his time thinking about her, and what his next encounter with her would be like.

When she stopped seeing him, he had started craving her body like mad. That was understandable. He had gotten use to having her on demand any time, day or night. But he had begun longing for her in other ways as well, ways he wouldn't have imagined. The more time he had spent with her, the more he had grown to care for her, to a far greater extent than he would have thought possible. All his previous thoughts and assumptions about her were altered drastically. "Bang-able" changed to beautiful. Arrogant changed to confident. Overdramatic changed to passionate. Whiny changed to sensitive. Manipulative changed to clever. Catty changed to witty. And those fake mega watt smiles for which Sharpay Evans had been infamous for had given way to a smile just as bright, but one that was utterly sincere, and never failed to make Troy feel spectacular.

It was hard to deal with his seperation anxiety towards her at school, having to watch her walk through the halls, and sit in desks near him, while he ached to be with her. But it was even harder at night. Night was the time when he longed for a warm body to hold next to his own. He would lie in bed like he was doing now, staring up at the ceiling, and more than anything he would wish to stroke Sharpay's hair, or kiss her nose, or even just to watch her sleeping.

The only times he'd ever gotten to gaze at her while she slept had been the times when he was either sneaking out, or sneaking back in, and she had tired her out to such a great extent, she didn't have the willpower to fight against sleep any longer. He would pause just for a moment, either before he had to rush out the door, or before she opened her eyes wearily and sweetly asked for him, and he would allow himself to get lost in her beauty. At those times, though, he had always felt like a slimebag, aware that he didn't deserve to be with either of the two amazing girls he spent all his time with, yet, because life was unfair and he was a jackass, he got to be with both. The self loathing had taken out some of the enjoyment out of gazing at Sharpay's slumbering form, and he couldn't help but wonder what it might be like to stare at her all night long while she slept, with no other obligations to cloud his mind, and the knowledge that he could stay with her like that for as long as he wished.

It was times like these when it was all he could do to resist calling her.

* * *

It had taken Sharpay four hours of finding the right place, rehearsing what she would say on the phone, and hanging up a couple of times out of cowardliness, but Sharpay had made her appointment. A death sentence. For the potential baby, yes, but in Sharpay's mind, for her and Troy's relationship too. There was life growing inside of her, and it couldn't have happened without Troy. It was their unspeakable bond, their unspoken connection. And, if she let herself think about it, if she kept this baby, it was something she could love in place of Troy.

But that was wrong. She had heard stories about young girls like that before. College girls who purposefully got themselves pregnant, either to trap their boyfriends into staying with them forever, or, even sadder, to have something to love them back when the guy was gone. That wasn't who Sharpay was. And it definitely wasn't someone she wanted to be either.

Sharpay's mother usually came home early from work on Friday afternoons. Like today, as Sharpay walked very hesitantly towards the clinic through the parking lot. Originally, she had told Ryan to tell their mother she was going shopping. But then she realized it might seem odd when she showed up back home without any shopping bags. Her next alibi had been the movies. But her mother would be eager to know with who. And if Sharpay made up a name, or claimed she had gone with someone she knew, her mother would be thrilled and eager to meet them. Sharpay didn't typically make friends, a factor Darby Evans had never been pleased about. But then again, with Sharpay's self centered nature, she had also never been suprised when high school and even middle school didn't yield many sleepovers, double dates, or any social gathering that required a tight knit group of people for her daughter. Large parties, with dancing and booze. Sure, she'd seen plenty of those. But movie nights and prom dress shopping, those were the events she'd been left out of.

Sharpay opened the doors to the clinic, feeling incredibly self conscious. She glanced around at the other women sitting in the waiting room. Several teenage girls and a few older women as well. Sharpay felt as though everyone of them was judging her as their eyes rested on the intruder. Sure, they were all there for the same reason. But it was no use reasoning with a nervous mind.

Sharpay approached the counter, suddenly realizing how sweaty her palms had become from clenching them so tightly.

"Name please?" The fairly young african american woman asked at the counter. Maybe twenty two? Sharpay wondered if this girl was judging her. She fidgeted with the hard plastic covering over the counter, that had begun to peel up in certain places.

"Sharpay Evans." she said.

"Okay." the girl checked the computer, and then handed Sharpay a clipboard with a form attached where she was supposed to sign her name. She did so absentmindedly, not minding the way her handwriting sloped downwards off of the line.

Sharpay sat down in one of the plastic waiting chairs and glanced around at the women in the room. Some held her stare, some looked away when her eyes rested on them, assuring her that only moments before they had been staring her down. Some were far too concerned in their own matters to notice the young blonde girl, who looked almost green, and far more disconcerted than the other girls.

Sharpay rested her hands on her stomach. It wasn't because it felt natural to her. It was because it didn't. She wanted to see what it felt like. If she would be able to sense anything inside her tummy, be it a kick, or anything else. She rubbed her belly a little, trying to distinguish any sort of bump. She didn't. But it had only been like a month or a month and a half at most since conception. She supposed that was normal, especially given her slim frame.

"Emily Green?" A man appeared from behind a mystery door.

Sharpay directed her attention to the alleged Emily, a young girl, roughly Sharpay's age, if just a little older. The girl looked just as meek as Sharpay felt. As she stood, her legs visibly shook, and she clung to a section of her shoulder length brown hair like a young girl clutching a security blanket. She dissapered behind the door, glancing back once over her shoulder, and when she did, her eyes locked with Sharpay's.

Sharpay tried to imagine what the doctor's office beyond the door was like. What getting an abortion would feel like. It was funny how people were so hesitant to say the A-word. She had yet to hear a single person other than Troy call it that, even Ryan. When she'd called Women's Options to make her appointment she'd said merely that: "I'd like to make an appointment." Obviously, she could only mean one thing. The woman on the other end of the line hadn't said, "And what day would you like to schedule your abortion Miss. Evans?" She had refered to it as appointment as well. It made Sharpay feel nervous, like she was being lied to in order to convince her to do something she didn't want.

She looked down at the hands that still rested on her stomach. She imagined what it would feel like in a couple of months when a prominant bump lay underneath her her palms. A sudden overwhelming rush of anxiety and hesitation hit her. She couldn't do this. In the past she had thought that if she ever were to find herself in the position she did now, abortion would be the only option. But suddenly it wasn't a possibility at all. Not for her. It was for Emily Green, and other teenage girls, but she couldn't do it. She couldn't rid herself of the tiny life inside of her, the one Troy had implanted within her. She loved him too much, and couldn't bear to sever any ties she had with him.

* * *

**A/N: So, I expect mixed reviews on this. Some people want Sharpay to get rid of the baby, and others want her to keep it. Well, she's made the decision to keep it... though not really for the right reasons if you'll notice. I give credit to the reference of abortion as "The A-word" to GimmeABeat. She mentioned it in her last review, and I liked it and wanted to incorporate it into this chapter. **

**PS: I'm considering naming the title of this story. I'm not sure.**

**Well my fanfic friends, let me know what you think, and review!! :)**

**-xoxo.**


	12. Chapter 12

"You didn't go through with it, did you?" Ryan said. Sharpay had just walked in the front door, and Ryan had immediately jumped up off the white sofa he sat on in one of the Evans' living room areas. The two had stared at each other for a second, and then Ryan was the first to speak.

Sharpay's eyes widened and her mouth gaped slightly. How did Ryan always know just by looking at her?

"I really don't feel like talking to you right now." she said. She turned on her heels and instead of entering the living room, she headed to the right towards the stairwell.

"Shar wait!" Ryan hurried after her.

"I said I don't feel like talking!" Sharpay yelled acrimoniously over her shoulder.

Ryan grabbed her arm, and reeled her around, much harder than she would have expected. She burned her eyes into the spot where his hand firmly grasped her left arm.

"I don't want to talk to you." she seethed each word, dragging out her syllables in a dangerously slow and cold voice, that always sent unpleasant chills down Ryan's back.

But this time, he wasn't going to be pushed around by his bossy sister. She needed him too much for him to let her have her way. Their parents had never understood that. All of Sharpay's tantrums, her hurtful words, her crazy tempermental tirades; they were all cries for help. They left their mother, in exasperation, forcing Sharpay into her room, where she could suffer her anger alone, while their mother could retreat downstairs to down a much needed alchoholic beverage, and hopefully have time to escape the house before Sharpay came after her again, demanding something out of her as always. Or they left their father, desperate to appease the daughter he loved so much, but had no idea how to attend to or handle, attempting to give her all she wanted, in the form of boxes tied with bows, and they seemed to quiet Sharpay whenever she was presented with them. But only temporarily. What they didn't understand, and Ryan did, was that Sharpay needed attention to be given to her emotional needs, something that rarely happened. Even he, who felt he had a firmer grasp on understanding his twin sibling more than anyone, was guilty of ignoring her inner probes and feelings, for the same reason as their parents: those were dangerous waters to tread. Sharpay didn't know how to deal with her emotions, and because of this, all the negative feelings she experienced, fear, sadness, vulnerability, were quickly converted into anger.

Fortunately, Ryan's fear for his sister didn't outweigh his love for her, and he grasped her firmly by the shoulders when he shouted at her, "Well you have to talk to me, goddamnit, because you have to talk to somebody!"

Sharpay's nostrils flared, and her chin quivered, but she finally gave in and nodded, before burrying her head in her brother's chest.

* * *

"You're going to have to tell Troy." Ryan said softly.

The two sat on the side of Sharpay's bed, hugging each other, and cuddling.

"I know." Sharpay said. He felt her shiver.

"Mom's home. You could-"

"No." Sharpay said, shaking her head rapidly, "I can't."

"You're going to have to eventually." Ryan said gently.

Sharpay's expression grew pained, and she bit down on the inside of her lower lip until the metalic taste of blood ran over her tongue. She needed to feel some physical pain to help her deal with her inner afflictions.

"I don't know what I'm going to do." she admitted, overwhelmed with fear and frusteration, "I'm so scared."

"I know." was all Ryan said, and he pulled his twin closer to him, in hopes that for once in her life, he could be her comfort.

* * *

"Duckie!" Darby Evans' voice could be heard coming down the hall, from where the twins sat. 'Duckie' was one of her many nicknames for Ryan.

"In here Mom!" Ryan called eagerly, before seeing the glare Sharpay shot him. He hugged his sister in comfort, but honestly, he thought it would be best if he could convince Sharpay to go ahead and tell their parents she was pregnant, rather than put it off and torture herself with nerves.

"Bunny, have you seen your sister?" Darby was already talking to Ryan before she'd reached them, "She hasn't said hello to me all afternoon- Aw, look at that." Darby stopped in the doorway and beamed at the sight of her two children snuggled together, "Oh I wish I had my camera."

She rushed over to the bed, in the flighty manner that was her custom, and sat down beside Ryan, wanting god knows what. Maybe just to spend a little 'quality time' with her children. Sharpay noticed more than anyone else would, their mother's choice of seating. She placed a far greater significance in her mother's decision to sit beside Ryan, than Darby, who had merely sat down without rhyme or reason, would have given thought to.

"What are you two talking about?" Darby asked. She ruffled Ryan's hair.

"Just stuff." Ryan said.

"I can talk about 'stuff'." their mother persisted.

Sharpay said nothing, but Ryan noticed how she had stiffened, and pulled away from him, her hands now planted firmly in her lap, as she stared blankly ahead.

"Kitten?" Darby adressed Sharpay. Most of the time she reffered to her children as some type of baby animal. "How was school today?"

"Good." Sharpay replied robotically.

Darby nodded, and then grew silent, unable to think of any other way to strike up conversation. For some reason, she had never been excellent at parenting, something for which she repeatedly kicked herself, remembering when she were much younger, how good of mommy she'd always thought she would make.

"Daddy and I thought we could all take a cruise in a few weeks, to give us some family bonding time." Darby added.

"Yay!" Ryan smiled.

Sharpay rolled her eyes. He was such a Mama's boy, and whenever he was around Darby, his voice always went up a pitch, as if he were digressing.

Darby kissed Ryan's cheek, and Sharpay felt a strong pang of jealousy course through her. Sure, she wasn't the easier child, the softer mannered one, the more obediant, the easiest to talk to, or even the most loving. But she still felt it was unfair when her mother seemed to favor Ryan so much.

Sharpay stood up off the bed, and both Ryan and Darby looked up in dissapointment.

"Are you leaving darling?" Darby asked.

Sharpay walked over to the side of the bed to sit beside her mother, saying nothing, her expression remaining solemn. She leaned her head into her suprised mother's neck, and sat there, a little uncomfortably, waiting. Her mother finally seemed to understand, and put her arms around Sharpay to hold her daughter, though she didn't know what was on her mind.

* * *

"Troy... It's Sharpay. I need to talk to you. Just, please call me back when you get this. Okay?...bye."

Troy pressed "7" after listening to the voicemail. He was freshly showered, and had on a clean pair of clothes, and was now about to head out of the locker room.

"Message deleted." said the robot woman who voiced all phone commands and messages.

'What a weird job to have.' Troy thought absentmindedly.

"Next message." the woman said.

"Troy, it's me again. I know you're probably at practice still. I'm sorry for calling again. Actually now I don't know what I'm doing. I thought you might be ignoring me, but didn't realize you had basketball practice until I started recording this message. So, I'm going to hang up now. But call me back. Bye."

Troy smiled, even though a message from the girl who had recently revealed she was carrying his child was enough to make him more than a little nervous. He chuckled, as he pressed "7" again. She was so cute.

He went to the contacts of his phone and typed in an "S", scrolling down until he reached, "Sharpay". He pressed send, and could feel his heart beat fast as he listened to the dial tone. His stomach began to cramp nervously.

"Hey." her voice sounded heavy as soon as she picked the phone up.

"Hey." he replied, "I was at basketball practice."

"I need to talk to you Troy." she said.

Troy sighed, closing his eyes, imagining all the frightening possibilities that could come about in this alleged 'talk'.

"Okay." he said.

"Can I see you today?" she asked.

"Yeah." Troy nodded, feeling his head pound, "My parents are going out to dinner tonight. You want to come over around seven thirty?"

"Okay." she said.

"Sharpay?" he asked.

"Yeah?" her voice sounded cracked, worn with anguish. Troy felt guilty, knowing how much of it he had caused.

"I miss you." he said. He didn't know if he said it for her benefit, to help her feel less alone; or if he said it for his own benefit, to feel relief after finally saying the words out in the open.

He heard her heavy breath on the phone for several seconds after he spoke. Then he heard the 'click' of the connection being ended.

* * *

"I don't know if you know why I need to talk to you or not." Sharpay said. They were sitting on Troy's brown leather couch, a foot between them.

"I'm not entirely sure." Troy said, "I have a few guesses."

He hadn't realized how hard this was going to be until Sharpay showed up at his doorstep roughly fifteen minutes after his parents had left. It was the first time he'd been alone with her like this in a long time. His parents wouldn't be home for a few hours, and Sharpay and him sat side by side on a large comfy sofa. She looked good. Really good. She wasn't wearing anything flashy or revealing. On the contrary. She was wearing a light grey hooded sweat shirt, and her blonde hair hung down naturally in loose waves. As hard as she'd always found it to believe, it was when she looked like this that Troy had the hardest time keeping his hands off of her.

She had angled her body slightly towards his, and was watching him as she visibly worked up the courage to say the things she needed to say. Troy had forgotten almost completely the reason she was there, and instead continued to admire how beautiful she looked in the casual hoodie. It jogged something in his memory.

Just as Sharpay began to open her mouth, Troy spoke.

"Do you still have my sweatshirt?" he asked.

Sharpay looked startled at the unexpected question. But she nodded.

"Do you want it back?" she asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"No." Troy replied quickly, "No, it's yours. I was just wondering if you still had it..."

"I don't wear it anymore." Sharpay said, knowing he was wondering if she did. "The first couple of nights I did. But then I burried it in my closet."

"I'm so sorry Pay." Troy said, letting the words carry out some of his burden.

"It's Sharpay." she said.

Troy at her, shocked. She said it to hurt him, he knew. And he deserved to be hurt, after all the pain he'd brought her. But the message behind what she said was that the two of them no longer shared the bond they had, the one that gave him the right to call her 'Pay'. She couldn't do that.

"Sharpay." Troy muttered in correction.

He stared at her. She was treating him in the same icy manner in which she regarded other teenagers at school. Others, but not him. He grabbed her, suddenly, and he saw her eyes widen into honey brown saucers before he forced her into a ferocious kiss. She gasped into his mouth, and he pulled her so close to him, she was unable to pull away. He felt her struggle against his lips for a few seconds, and then give in, kissing back for just a moment. Then she pushed him away from her with all her might. Troy caught his breath, and looked at her.

Sharpay squinted at him, "I didn't come here for you to use me."

"I know." Troy said, "But I was looking at you, and I couldn't help-"

"Stop Troy." Sharpay said. Her voice was cold, indifferent to his feelings.

Troy opened and then closed his mouth a couple of times, feeling like a Cod fish.

"Troy, I-" Sharpay stopped as Troy took her hands in his own, and stared intensely at her. Instead of doing this in order to listen to her more intimately, he looked as if he were about to speak.

"Sharpay." Troy said, ignoring the fact that she was trying to begin her 'talk'. He stared at her face, and tried to swallow, realizing he couldn't. His mouth seemed to have dried up inexplicably. He could feel his palms sweating as he tightly gripped her hands, but thankfully, she didn't pull away. When he looked at her face, he could tell she sensed the urgency in his voice, and there was slight compassion visible in her arms, despite her new intolerable attitude towards him. He'd never told anyone what he was about to say, and he couldn't believe he was about to say it to Sharpay Evans, of all people. But as he opened up his mouth to say the words, he knew they had been true for a much longer time than he had realized. Maybe from the first night he'd kissed her back stage.

"Sharpay, I love you."

* * *

**A/N: I tend to leave chapters off with a character speaking a lot. I like the effect it gives. Oh wow, I can't wait to write the next chapter. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter. Oh, and I was looking at the stats of this story yesterday, and I was very pleased to see that for the second half of the stories, I've been getting roughly twice as many reviews per chapter as I got for the first half. :) So please, please, please, keep 'em comin'. xoxo.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Sigh. Depressingly low number of reviews for this last chapter. A whopping number of seven. Oh well. Won't do any use to complain, I guess. Hope y'all like the next chapter. :)**

* * *

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence, as both Troy and Sharpay sat, both stunned by Troy's words.

"Sharpay?" Troy finally asked cautiously. She still stared blankly ahead.

"Did- Did you hear what I said?" It was a stupid question to ask, and he knew it, but her eerie unresponsiveness made the moment extremely uncomfortable.

"I heard you." Sharpay said. She swallowed and looked at Troy, as if she was considering something.

"And?" Troy asked. Was he about to be rejected? It sure felt like it. And by the girl who several weeks ago had been in hysterics over him leaving her, to a point of no shame.

"I don't know." Sharpay said honestly.

"You don't know?" Troy asked incredulously.

"Well damn it Troy, don't act so suprised!" Sharpay snapped, "Do you think after all the suffering you put me through, you can just come around on your own terms, tell me that you love me, and I'll just jump right into your arms so we can live happily ever after?"

Troy floundered for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"Do you know what I've been going through?" Sharpay asked him. Her eyes narrowed, and his face flushed, his cheeks burning. He'd just unleashed something. She had come here to talk, and now she truly was going to say everything she needed to.

"I gave my virginity to you. I did anything I could to make you happy, and made my life revolve around you. I gave you everything, without even getting an actual relationship in return. You know why Troy?"

It had sounded like a rhetorical question, but after a long pause Troy realized Sharpay was looking at him like she expected an answer.

"Uh..." Troy wrung his hands together nervously, trying to carefully word a response she would like to hear. But she didn't give him time.

"Because I love you!" Sharpay answered, "And I never once saw that love reciprocated. I asked for a relationship with you, and you left me to be with another girl. Do you know what that said to me Troy? That I was just an object to you!"

"But that's not true! I don't think that, I swear!" Troy interrupted.

"You used me for sex day and night, and when I asked you to give me anything beyond that you walked out on me." Sharpay said. Her voice quivered, and she couldn't believe how much of her pent up emotions she was setting free now, but she couldn't stop.

Troy looked at her pleadingly, "Sharpay, I'm sorry, I-"

"I'm not finished." Sharpay's voice was angry and icy. Troy shrunk back, fearing the sound of it. Before tonight, he'd never heard her speak to him so harshly.

"After that you ignored me." Sharpay continued, "I had to see you every fucking day at school, and watch you with another girl, who by the way, I think deserves to know what you did behind her back, if you plan on continuing a serious relationship with her."

"Sharpay I just told you I love you." Troy interrupted. Another stone cold glare from Sharpay and he fell silent again.

"You ignored me every single day, despite the four classes we have together. Didn't I deserve some sort of closure at least? I cried nonstop over you. You can't even imagine how bad you hurt me." she stopped an inhaled a large breath. She gotten extremely wound up while spilling her heart.

"Sharpay, I am so, so, so sorry." Troy said, "I know I put you through so much heartbreak, but we could move past that, and I promise I will never hurt you again."

"Did you think I was finished there?" Sharpay asked.

Troy fell silent and though he was caught by suprise, he shook his head know, hoping that agreeing with Sharpay might earn him some favor back.

"Do you know how incredibly scary it was, to discover I was pregnant, and not only to no longer be with you, but for you to not even talk to me anymore? I couldn't confide in you, and you made it so clear once you left that you wanted nothing to do with me anymore. I was too scared of how you would react if I told you. Maybe that was partialy my fault, but I was terrified Troy. My brother was the only person I had to confide in, but he didn't provide the comfort I needed. I needed to talk to. I needed us to go through that together."

"Sharpay, you didn't tell me! You can't blame me for that!" Troy shouted defensively.

"When I told you, I got a fifteen minute conversation in your truck in the school parking lot." Sharpay said, "If you want to call it a discussion. You didn't even ask me what I wanted!"

"Yes, I did!" Troy protested, "I said the decision was ulitmately yours!"

"And then proceeded to make it for me anyways, and practically shove me out of your car!" Sharpay shouted back, "I never said that I wanted to abort. You made that assumption on your own, and you didn't second guess it! And you know what, okay, fine, that's one thing. But did you ever call after that?"

Troy was stunned into silence as he realized how horrible that made him sound.

"Or did you offer to help me make my appointment, or go to it with me, I mean considering this is just as much your fault as it is mine! Do you know how terrifying it was to go to that place, all by myself, not knowing what the hell to expect? I could have used your support." Sharpay had jumped up now in her furry, and stood, trembling over Troy.

He stood up too. "Sharpay, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I didn't think. I'm beyond an ass. I just...It didn't even occur to me...I don't know what the hell is wrong with me."

"I didn't go through with it!" Sharpay blurted out.

"What?" Troy stared at her, shocked.

"I couldn't do it!" Sharpay said, "I just couldn't. I came here to tell you that. I didn't get rid of it. I'm... going to keep it."

"What?" Troy's face potrayed complete terror, "What about your future?"

Sharpay frowned, "Fortunately for you, I'm able to read into your words enough at this point to know that you mean to say you're concerned about your own future."

Troy lowered his head guiltily to the ground.

"Well don't worry." Sharpay said, "I don't plan on forcing you to take responsibility. And as for myself, if some part of you actually does care, I admit this wasn't what I planned or wanted. But life definitely doesn't always turn out the way you hope. I'll be okay. I've come to realize that I'm a lot stronger than you are."

Her last sentence cut through him like a knife just as she intended it to. Troy let his head hang down in shame. He searched for the right words he needed to say.

"I think I'll go home now." Sharpay said, "If you do end up deciding you want any part in this, you can call me. I won't be mad. But if you don't, as expect you won't, I won't be upset either. You're young, with your future ahead of you. And I know you didn't expect anything permanent to come out of this." She still sounded angry as she spoke to him, yet somehow sincere in what she was saying.

"Sharpay." Troy said.

She stood, staring at him, waiting expectantly.

"I love you." Troy tried one more time. He knew there were far more important things for her to be concerned with, but he felt she needed to know it was true.

"I love you too." Sharpay said, heavily and sadly, as if she regretted that it was true.

"Well then don't go home." Troy said.

Sharpay raised her eyes to him. They looked somewhat suprised, the only part of her that currently showed any emotion.

"I'm sorry." Troy said, "I've been a lecherous ass. I'm selfish, and irresponsible, and inconsiderate, and all those things you pointed out. And I used you Sharpay. I didn't mean to, but I most definitely did, and I am so sorry for that. If what you want now is to have this baby." Troy corrected himself, "_My _baby, then I want to support you. That is, if you'll let me."

"Troy, do you know what that would mean for your current future plans?" Sharpay asked him.

"You're going to be making a lot of sacrifices, and I want to make them with you." Troy said. He reached out for her hand, and squeezed it tightly.

"What about Gabriella?" Sharpay asked, "She's a nice girl."

"Which is why she doesn't deserve to be lead on by me any longer. I've mistreated her quite a bit too." Troy said, "She probablly will get hurt a little." Troy admitted, "But I don't think she ever fell in love with me."

Troy grabbed Sharpay's other hand and pulled her in close to his body. He looked down at her face.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to realize the way I feel about you, and for acting like such a douche along the way." He said, "I'm so sorry for everything I've put you through Sharpay, but I truly do love you. Once I said it out loud I knew for sure it was true, and I realized it had been for a long time."

Sharpay looked up at him, fighting with her emotions. She put her hands up to his cheeks, "I'm still really mad at you." she said truthfully.

"I know." he replied, "Me too."

"But I do love you." she admitted.

He kissed her forehead, and held her close to him.

"I'm not putting you on a pedestal this time." she added, talking into his chest, "You're going to have to earn my trust and devotion."

"Don't worry." Troy kissed the top of her head, "I promise you'll be on the pedestal this time."

* * *

**A/N: Aw! I think I made this romantic while still realistic. Hopefully you guys agree. I'm not sure how many more chapters are left for definite, but I'm thinking like one more, to kind of conclude the whole thing. **

**Oh yeah, and while Troy and Sharpay have made up now, I still applaud Sharpay at the beginning of the chapter for finally standing up to the jerk. **

**Please, please, please, please, please, please, please review!!! xoxo.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Ok, so, I had said that I'd maybe do one or two more chapters on this. I recieved several reviews from people saying they weren't ready for this to happen yet, and I don't want to feel like I'm rushing it out. whoknew96 suggested I do one of those ending things where you flashfoward like five years. But I'm not quite ready to finish this either. I think the confrontation with Gabriella, and Troy and Sharpay's parents are pretty important, and when I thought about it, it probably kind of seemed like that was what the story was leading up to the whole time right? So, I have decided to continue this story for longer than a couple more chapters I think. Until I've had my fill of this story, and feel that I've tied up all the hanging threads I was weaving. (Like my metaphor?) **

* * *

Troy kissed Sharpay and walked himself backwards until his knees hit the edge of the couch. He sat down, and then pulled her down to straddle his lap. He kissed down her neck, and realized just how badly he had missed her. It seemed to good to be true that his lips might ever make contact with her sun kissed skin again, yet here he was.

"Troy." Sharpay said after a minute, just as he had begun to grow heated. He could tell by the tone in her voice that her mind wasn't in the same place as his was at the moment.

"Yes?" He stopped kissing her and looked up into her eyes, giving her his full attention, and tried his best to remove sex from his mind. He was with her again, but on probation like terms, and he wanted to prove to her that he could give her the full relationship she wanted. In his seventeen years, Troy had learned that the key element to being a good boyfriend was simply nodding while looking at the girl's _face _and acting like you were listening even when you had no clue what the hell she was talking about.

"Should we go ahead and tell your parents tonight?" she asked him.

Troy's heart rate increased significantly and his nostrils flared.

"Oh my god. I didn't even think about the fact I was going to have to tell me parents I knocked you up." Troy said. He couldn't believe it hadn't occured to him. The entire situation had made him feel so grown up, he hadn't even considered his own parents.

"Don't say you 'knocked me up'." Sharpay reprimanded him, giving him a soft swipe across his shoulder.

But Troy wasn't listening to her.

"Parents." he said in a voice low on air supply, "Oh my god. Sharpay. _We're _going to be parents."

Sharpay stared at him for a second.

"Yes Troy." Sharpay said, "I thought we already went over this a few minutes ago. You know. The sacrifices?"

"Yeah, the sacrifices _you and I _are going to have to make, but not the baby." Troy said, "I didn't even think about what's going to happen when it's just _here. _I mean in nine months we're going to have a baby and we have to be the ones to take care of it."

"Eight months." Sharpay corrected.

"Eight!" Troy slid her off his lap, stood up, and began pacing, needing to move around. "See it's already happening!"

"What's happening?" Sharpay asked, confused.

"It's growing!" Troy exclaimed, "It's going to be here, and it's going to be a baby for a little while. But then it's going to get bigger. One day it's going to be like us! Like just a full fledged human just walking around!" Troy animatedly demonstrated walking, turning his index and middle fingers upside down and moving them like legs.

Despite his minor panic attack, Sharpay let a small giggle escape from her lips. Troy looked down at her, wild eyed, and raised his eyebrows.

"What's funny?" He asked, "I knew I was going to have to accept the consequences that would affect my own life, but we're talking about another little innocent person's life here. I've never held a child in my life Sharpay. We have to keep this thing alive. That's our number one goal as parents. It could die Sharpay."

Sharpay stood up and walked over to him. She giggled a little more, but tried to repress it, seeing the mental anguish Troy was currently in.

"Troy, we will certainly try to keep this child alive." she said, placing a hand on his back.

"This isn't funny Sharpay!" Troy shot back, "We don't just have to keep it living. We're suppost to raise it, to, to rear it."

Sharpay rubbed his back softly, "Rear it?"

"Yeah, you know, instill values, teach it how to breathe, stuff like that." Troy said.

"Troy, I've had an ample amount of freak out time, so it's perfectly natural for you to have yours now. But trust me. You'll be fine." Sharpay stood on her tip-toes and kissed Troy's lips. "I've already wrapped my head around rasing this baby. Or 'rearing' it, whatever. When it's born, you won't have to worry. Your daddy insticts will kick in, and you'll know what to do."

"What if I don't have 'Daddy instincts'?" Troy asked.

"You will." Sharpay assured him, "You just need to calm down." She began kissing his neck.

When she started undoing the buttons on his shirt Troy interjected, "You're trying to distract me."

"Shh." Sharpay responded, pushing the shirt off his shoulders and kissing his chest.

Troy closed his eyes, and tangled a hand into Sharpay's hair. "I know why you're so calm." he muttered, "It's because that thing's already inside you. You've got all those baby hormones shooting right into your head and making you think like a Mommy."

Sharpay looked up at him, "Want to lay down on the couch?" she asked. The truth was, she'd missed him too. Whoever decided that boys were the only ones who thought regularly about sex, and that girls were always 'pressured' into it was probably a very strict Morman woman who'd undergone a total hysterectomy. Sharpay had always wanted Troy and after having had him and then gone without him again, the tension had grown almost unbearable.

"I think laying on the couch was what got us in this situation in the first place." Troy said coyily.

"Well, we're already in it; it's not like we can get into it again." Sharpay reasoned.

"Smart girl." Troy said.

They hurried back over to the house, and Sharpay returned to her straddling position on Troy. They began making out heavily, and the entire situation felt surreal. Sharpay had spent so much time trying to adjust herself to the idea of never feeling Troy's kisses again. His hands found their way up to Sharpay's chest, and he had only just started to feel her breasts when Sharpay let out a deep throaty moan into the kiss. Troy felt his own face flush with heat. If she was this turned on just from him fondling her breasts through her shirt, he could only imagine what she would be like when they got further into it.

On that thought, Troy eagerly lifted her shirt over her hoodie over her head. She hadn't been wearing any shirt underneath, but was left in a pale yellow bra. Troy wasted no time in unhooking it, and he took her breasts into his hands, giving them a good squeeze.

"Mmm. Troy, I've missed you so much." Sharpay mumbled, closing her eyes, and thrusting her body forward involuntarily.

Troy caught her off guard, flipping her to the left, so that she was no longer on his lap, but rather sitting back in the corner cushion of the couch. He smiled at her, and leaned over her, beginning to softly suck on one of her breasts.

Sharpay was defenseless. She'd been without him for so long, and felt she needed him so badly, that it was no use for her to try and fight for control or the upper hand. She'd patiently await her turn to pleasure him, but let him do what he wanted to her until the time came.

"Tro-oo-oy."

He smirked, and looked up at her while continuing to tend to her breasts with his mouth.

"Troy." she murmured again. Her face remained one of serene ecstasy for a moment, and then he saw a look of shock and horror was over her. He pulled his mouth back a little, and turned his head slightly, searching for the presence in the room that had caused her expression.

Troy's mother and father stood in the living room, completely taken by suprise.

"Troy!" his mother exclaimed. Her face clearly showed that she was completely horrified.

Jack Bolton, on the other hand, stood a few inches behind his wife, and raised his eyebrows at Troy, silently expressing what he, Troy, and Sharpay knew meant, "That's not Gabriella." Still, behind his eyes was a coy smirk threatening to break loose.

"You guys haven't even been gone half an hour!" Troy exclaimed.

"The couple we were suppost to be meeting for dinner called and canceled last minute when we got there." his mother said. "Troy Alexander Bolton, you told me you were going to do your homework and go straight to bed, not sneak some girl over when we weren't home."

"Sharpay." Jack greeted her and acknowledged her identity beyond "some girl" at the same time.

"Coach." Sharpay managed weakly. She hated that she was going to have to tell his mother that she was pregnant after her walking in on the two of them.

"Sharpay?" Mrs. Bolton asked, "The country club girl?"

Sharpay felt her cheeks blush. She could only imagine the complaints Troy must have made about her at home last summer.

"I remember you. From the talent show." Troy's mother recalled.

Troy was still on his knees, leant over Sharpay, sheilding her bare chest from his parents' eyes. He was growing uncomfortable.

"Mom." he said pointedly.

"Let's let the kids get a shirt on." Jack instructed to his wife.

"Oh, right." she agreed, "Then I think Sharpay needs to go home, and we need to have a talk Troy."

Troy shivered. They definitely needed to talk.

Troy's parents exited the living room into the kitchen.

"Are we going to tell them now?" Troy asked Sharpay, as the two of them slipped their shirts back on.

Sharpay swallowed, hard. "I guess it's better to get it out of the way. That's what Ryan's been saying anyways about me telling my parents."

"And have you?" Troy asked.

Sharpay shook her head.

"Maybe practice with my parents will help." Troy offered. Sharpay tried to smile at him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Mom, Dad." Troy said, as he and Sharpay walked into the kitchen. He placed a hand on the small of her back, "Sharpay and I have something we need to tell you."

"What?" Lucille Bolton said the word as if she knew already that the answer to her question would be abhorent, but was trying not to get to uneasy about it too soon.

"Um," Troy looked down at his feet, taking in a deep breath. Did he start with a background story? Did he plunge right in and say it? "I've been secretly seeing Sharpay for some time." he said.

"While dating Gabriella?" his mother raised an eyebrow sharply at him.

Troy nodded shamefully. "Yes, and I know that's pretty scummy of me. But I plan on ending things with her, tomorrow, if possible." he paused again, and glanced at Sharpay. She nodded at him.

"Well, I, um, I love Sharpay very much." he smiled at her, and pulled her in to his side, kissing the top of her head. She smiled at him.

"Is that what you wanted to tell us son?" his father asked.

Troy could tell by the looks on his parents faces that they were praying to God that he was about to tell them anything other than what he was about to.

"No." Troy replied, "I-We wanted to tell you... Shar's...pregnant." He sighed loudly, having said the words, but he felt how stiff Sharpay was against him. She was bristled with fear, even though these weren't her own parents.

"Pregnant?" his mother asked. She lapsed into total shock.

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**A/N: Please review! Also, please review my newest chapter to Behind Locked Doors. I updated it last night and barely anyone has been reviewing. I suppose it could be because I updated on the weekend, but usually I immediately get several reviews, and I didn't this time. (Sorry, don't you hate it when authors beg you to review their other stories on an author's note? Well if you want, send me a review on how annyoing I am. ;p)**

**Haha, I had a guy friend who told me one time after I was ranting on about something, that all you had to do when a girl was talking was sit there and nod and you didn't have to actually listen, you just had to interject, "What a bitch." every so often, and she'd be happy. So that was my inspiration for Troy's philosophy on what it takes to be a good boyfriend.**

**xoxo!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: If you read my other story, then you already know about my newly adopted policy, in which I ask for ten reviews per chapter, and refuse to update until I reach this goal. And if you don't read my other story, well, I pretty much just covered my new ten reviews policy in the previous sentence. Also, please read my other story, Behind Locked Doors, and review, because I need three more reviews before I update it. (Sorry, cheap advertising. Again. I just can't help it.)**

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Lucille Bolton had lapsed into a shock that briefly enabled her not only from speaking, but from movement as well. Her mouth hung open, adorned with the red ruby lipstick she reserved for evening wear only and as she began to come to, she looked up at her own teenage son, and then at the young girl he claimed to have impregnated. Sharpay looked like a frightened puppy, her large brown eyes looking intensely at Lucy, exemplifying the resemblance.

"Look at her." Lucy finally spoke, finding a compassion in her that came from the empathy she held for Sharpay's situation. Once, at eighteen, she had experienced a pregnancy scare, and she couldn't recall ever being more terrified than during that time.

"The poor little thing's shaking like a leaf." Lucy said softly. She stood up and walked over to Sharpay, placing a hand on her right shoulder. Truthfully, it wasn't the most natural thing for her, especially when she thought of how this strange girl might affect Troy's future. Still, when she looked at Sharpay, she saw a frightened little girl, and the own motherly instincts she had developed through caring for Troy were jump started again, strangely, towards Sharpay.

"How long have you known?" she asked the two.

"I think I've been pregnant for about a month?" Sharpay offered. "But I've known for a couple of weeks."

"Did you just find out Troy?" his mother turned to her son.

He lowered his eyes to the ground, ashamed for not having told her sooner.

"Actually, I found out about a week ago." He admitted, "But I didn't tell you, because at the time, we planned on Shar getting an abortion."

"Oh. So you have already considered... the alternative." Lucy replied.

There was no hiding the disappointment in her voice. Sharpay understood. She felt horrible, practically a stranger to Troy's mother and yet standing in her kitchen, and revealing how drastically now she was going to change the future of this woman's son.

"Yeah, but it wasn't right for Pay." Troy said, "For us." he quickly added, not wanting to isolate her in her already frightened state.

"So," Jack Bolton remained seated at the kitchen table. He had been staring ahead at the wall, and finally looked up at his son and Sharpay.

He knew Sharpay, and he knew a lot about her. He'd taught her in physical education freshman year. He'd chaperoned field trips she'd attended, long before she reached high school age. He heard the things said about her through East High, and stories Troy told him about her. He'd even known her father back in college. His feelings towards Sharpay had been mixed. He didn't always care for the way she treated the other students in school, he was weary of the drama queen type, and he found her stereotypical spoiled child act distasteful. Still, certain aspects of her personality had always been attractive to him. She was outgoing, with a strong ability to entertain, and admittedly, had been one of his favorite students when he had taught her. He tried to share Troy's interests, and support him, but the previous summer, when Sharpay had tried to bribe Troy for his affections with college basketball opportunities, he had secretly been routing for her. He had never really been the biggest fan of Gabriella, not because she wasn't nice, because she certainly was, but just because their personalities just didn't mesh. And he really hadn't seen the harm in a pretty rich girl with a well to do family stealing Troy away if it meant a brighter future for him. But now, when he realized how much Sharpay was jeopardizing his only son's future, he suddenly saw her as just as ominous as the majority of the East High student body did.

"Are you planning on going through with the pregnancy, and then giving it up for adoption?" He already knew that hadn't been their plan, it had been clear by their expressions. Still, he hoped if he asked the question with enough conidence and jurisdiction, that the young teens would be swayed to agree.

"No." Troy replied firmly, "Pay and me are going to raise it."

"You and 'Pay'?" Jack asked incredeously, "Troy, this isn't fairy tale time."

"What's that suppost to mean?" Troy shot back defensively.

"I mean you need to be realistic about this. You're always looking for your happy ending and you're not always going to get one Troy. What are your plans? How do you think your going to raise a child? I guess you can both forget about going to college. And what kind of job are you going to get? It won't pay much, at least in the beginning, I can guarantee that. And where do you think you're going to live?" Jack looked at Sharpay, and tried to soften his tone, "I understand what you're trying to do Troy. I know you want to take responsibility, but you just can't. Neither of you are ready to raise a child."

"Jack." Troy's mother spoke softly, looking at her husband sadly. She understood all he said, and she felt the same way, but at the same time, she knew it wasn't their decision to make. She rubbed her son's back, and offered Sharpay a sympathetic look when she caught her eye.

"I'm keeping it." Sharpay said softly.

Jack stood up, "You can't even imagine-"

"Dad." Troy interrupted, "We haven't had much time to figure out anything yet, but Sharpay and me have both made our decisions on the matter. Sharpay wants to keep the baby, and I want to support her."

Jack shook his head, not sure if he should try again to convince them otherwise, or if now was a time when he had to accept that his son made a mistake, and bare it as he made what he thought was another one.

"Do your parents know sweetie?" Lucy asked Sharpay. Sharpay wished she could crawl up in Troy's mother's warmth.

"No. We haven't told them yet." Sharpay said, "But we will. Tomorrow I think." She had finally set a definite date for telling her parents, and said it out loud, and a shiver of fear ran down her spine at the thought.

Troy reached over and grabbed her hand, lacing her fingers in his. He brought their intertwined hands up to his mouth and kissed hers. She smiled softly in spite of herself. Troy smiled back.

"Troy." His dad said upon seeing this, "You're young, and chances are, you won't feel this way about her forever."

"I love her." Troy responded.

"But that's puppy love Troy." Jack replied, "In five years you may hate each other."

"I think it's more than puppy love and I don't think I could ever hate her." Troy replied, "But either way I won't hate my child in five years."

"You're child may hate you in ten more years, when you can't give it what other parents can!" Jack protested. "Troy, I'm just trying to make you look at this realistically."

"I am looking at this realistically Dad." Troy said softly, "And at first, I definitely didn't want to have a baby. I understand everything you're saying, I really do. But Sharpay has decided she's willing to make the sacrifices it takes to have this child, and so am I. I know it won't be easy. But, maybe her parents will help us out some."

"We'll help you too." Lucy cut in, "As much as we can."

She kissed Troy's forehead, just a tiny bit remorsefully, and then pulled Sharpay into a tight hug. Sharpay was caught off guard, and lost her balance for a moment, but regained it, and tentatively returned the hug.

"Are you taking a vitamin?" Lucy asked her when she withdrew her embrace.

Sharpay shook her head.

"Well, you'll want to start taking a prenatal vitamin once a day."

Sharpay nodded weakly.

"I think you definitely should go ahead and tell your own parents tomorrow." Lucy continued, "Troy will go with you. Then I'll invite your parents over for dinner sometime this week, and we can discuss everything then."

"Lucille." Jack said, an edge in his voice.

"Jack." she replied in the same tone.

Sharpay didn't know what the tone meant, but it silenced Troy's father, and Sharpay smiled.

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" Lucy asked Sharpay, "I don't know what I'm going to make, considering we were planning on eating out tonight, but I'm sure I could whip up something."

Sharpay smiled and shook her head, "No thank you. I actually should be going home now so my parents don't worry about me."

It was a lie. Chances were, her parents weren't at all concerned with where she was. They weren't much for curfews. But she used it as an excuse to leave. She knew that was horrible, especially considering the huge bomb she'd just dropped on the Boltons, but she couldn't handle the heavy atmosphere much longer. She felt guilty for leaving Troy on his own, knowing his parents would probably grow much more upset once she was gone and the night progressed. But she would have to endure something similar the following night, and she didn't see the use in experiencing it twice.

"Alright." Lucy nodded, and then reached out, grasping Sharpay's hand. "Be sure to tell your mother to call me tomorrow, once she knows. Troy can give her my number. I think we should all work together on getting you two through this."

Sharpay swallowed and nodded, wondering how open her mother would actually be to Lucille Bolton's help.

"Troy?" Sharpay said.

He looked at her.

"Walk me outside?" she asked him. He nodded in response.

"Um, goodbye." Sharpay said awkwardly to Troy's parents.

Both muttered "Bye." as Troy took her hand in his and led her out of the kitchen. They crossed through the living room to the front door and Troy stepped out onto the front porch with her, shutting the door behind him.

"I hope everything goes okay tonight." Sharpay said softly.

Troy shrugged, though he did look nervous, "It'll be fine. What can they do?"

"You're dad seems pretty upset." Sharpay pointed out.

"Don't worry about him." Troy said. He leaned in and kissed Sharpay's forehead, "He's upset, but he'll help us."

"Okay." Sharpay replied. Suddenly, she even felt awkward around Troy, something that never happened.

"I'll pick you up for school in the morning okay?" he asked her, "That way, I can drive you home tomorrow afternoon, and we can just tell your parents then."

"Alright..." Sharpay agreed, and then paused, "I think you should tell Gabriella tomorrow too." she added. She looked up for Troy's reaction.

Troy nodded, "I will."

He pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head, wanting to enjoy the moment, and trying to ignore the feeling of both of their hearts beating against each other, pounding with fear.

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**A/N: My ball is now in your court, so to speak. Ten reviews before I update again. ****I have an exam on Thursday away from school, that gets me out for the rest of the day, so if I have enough reviews by then, I'll update. And also, once more, please review Behind Locked Doors as well.**

**Well, 'till next time...**

**xoxo.**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Well, I asked for ten reviews on the last chapter and got sixteen. So thanks to all that reviewed. :) I'm sorry it's been forever since I've updated. For those of you who have PMed me asking if something was wrong, (lol), I'm totally fine, I'm here, and I'm updating! So review! **

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Sharpay had come home, feeling afraid to even look at her family, nervous that her mother might take one look in her eyes and know what was going on. Before, it had been different, when Sharpay thought she could just poof the baby away, or later when she decided to keep it, and could justify not telling her parents by deciding that Troy should know first. But now, knowing that it was a definite to tell her parents tomorrow, a new fear had nestled in the pit of her stomach.

The one comforting thing about her extreme anxiety, was that the emotions were familiar in principle. Before, when thinking about getting rid of her baby, and then when facing the idea of raising a child, she had dealt with unknown dangers. But tomorrow, she was simply admitting to having commited a bad act to her mother and father, something she had had plenty of practice at. In a way, she was able to slightly appease her rattling nerves by thinking of her confession tomorrow as similar to situations when she was five, and had been caught creating a mural on her walls or feeding pennies to the dog. She faced the risk of being yelled at, but by the next day everything would be okay again.

Of course, this time the next day would not relieve Sharpay of punishment. She had a very permanent consequence to deal with, one she knew she was going to have to start preparing for. Part of her wondered if she would have ended up pregnant, had Troy been her rightful boyfriend and not Gabriella's during the countless possible times of conception. Perhaps Lady Karma had taken it upon herself to teach Sharpay and Troy both a lesson in responsibility by giving them the biggest one an American teenager could face.

Then again, Troy and Sharpay were irresponsible in other ways too, speaking on more practical terms. How many times had Sharpay's mother reminded her that while she'd rather her wait, if she were ever to have sex that birth control was absolutely nessecary? Sharpay was sure tomorrow the point would come up.

Sharpay had forgotten so many times to take her pill, just in the same way she would forget to do her math homework. There had been several occasions during her affair with Troy when both were caught unprotected, but had continued anyways, hoping for the best. Sharpay knew she had been stupid, but despite the fact that she was reaching the age that adults deemed "growing up", she was still a child on the inside. She now had full breasts, ones that had helped her to lure Troy, but they were pushed up to a level of perfection by bras her mother's credit card had taken care of. She could go anywhere she desired and drive herself there, but in a car fully paid for by her Daddy's money, and fueled by gas his cash also supplied. Her room stayed clean only because her neat freak of a brother tended to it every other Sunday. If not it would still be an atrocious wreck, one that she would dread cleaning just as much as she had as a child. And she was still accustomed to screaming and tantrums should her parents ever deny her her way, stomping up the stairs, and slamming her bedroom door in a fit. She was a child, and it had taken a very adult situation to make her realize it.

She made her way upstairs, hoping to slip into her room, unnoticed. The minute she reached the top of the stairwell, though, Ryan opened his bedroom door, looking just as confrontational as he had learned to be since Sharpay had gotten herself into this mess.

"What did Troy say?" he demanded immediately.

"No hello?" Sharpay asked.

"Hello, now what did Troy say when you told him you were keeping the baby?"

"Shh!" Sharpay hushed him, "They might hear you!"

"Well, they may need to hear me if Dad needs to go down to Troy's house with a shotgun in a few minutes!" Ryan snapped back, "What did he say?"

"Oh, get in here." Sharpay grabbed her brother by his shirt and dragged him into her bedroom.

"Was Troy mad?" Ryan asked.

"No. We're back together." Sharpay replied.

"Back together?" Ryan asked incredeously.

Sharpay nodded vehemently.

"Well that's fucking fantastic Sharpay but that wasn't really what I was asking about." Ryan said.

"I know." Sharpay slipped off her shoes and sunk back onto her bed, sighing contently, "We're going to keep the baby and raise it together. Troy's willing to make sacrifices too. We told his parents tonight... and tomorrow we're going to tell Mom and Dad."

"Well, he seems to have matured a lot all of the sudden." Ryan grumbled.

"He's human Ry." Sharpay reminded him, "I can't stay angry at him forever just for the sake of it. I'm certainly not perfect."

"Well no one's trying to say you're the Virgin Mary by any means." Ryan complied, flopping down onto the bed beside his sister, "I just don't think it's fair that the primo boy gets to act like such a giant douche and then walk away unscathed."

"We both got scathed." Sharpay replied. She patted her tummy to draw reference.

"Really? Ten bucks says when all this gets out, you get branded a whore, and Troy Bolton becomes a martyr for standing by you while his basketball dreams die young."

"It's just high school." Sharpay shrugged, staring up at her ceiling, "I'm beyond it now."

* * *

"Ready for the big day?" Troy asked Sharpay as soon as she had answered her ringing cell phone at 7:30 a.m.

"Yuck. Don't tell me you're actually enthusiastic?" Sharpay stared at the food lining her pantry shelves.

Since she was "eating for two", she decided maybe breakfast would be a good idea. Lucky Charms? Her brother seriously needed to move past the kid's cereal phase. She opted for an apple instead, walking towards the refrigerator door while Troy talked.

"You've just got to think about it like a big game against a team with stats much better than yours." Troy retorted, "There may be no chance in hell you can beat them, but you still get pumped up, and play your best."

"So you still work up a sweat, even if you loose." Sharpay replied sarcastically.

"Exactly." Troy said, seriously.

"So is Gabriella the team that's going to kick your ass?" Sharpay ran her apple underneath the faucet, cradling the phone between her shoulder and her ear.

"No, well, she'll weaken me considerably. But you're going down with a big finish tonight."

"Meaning my parents?" she asked.

"Yeah. Your parents. You loose the game. I'm out for the season." Troy gulped dramatically.

"Good." Sharpay replied, flatly, "You could stand to sit a few games out." She bit into her apple with a loud _crunch_.

* * *

Troy pulled up to Sharpay's roughly ten minutes after speaking to her on the phone. He honked the horn loudly.

Sharpay came out, flicking him off. Troy quickly calculated his infraction of not coming to the door, and hopped out of his car, walking around to the passenger side. He opened her car door for her as she approached.

"You're such a gentleman." Sharpay said sarcastically.

"Just get your ass in the car." Troy smiled at her, and leaned in, pecking her on the cheek.

"My brother's glaring at you through the window." Sharpay said.

"Oh, really?" Troy glanced behind his shoulder, and then turned around to Sharpay, raising an eyebrow mischeviously. He wrapped his arms around her sitting form and dove in, attacking her neck without warning, kissing and biting his way up to her jaw line.

"Troy stop!" Sharpay grabbed him by his shoulders and shoved him and his offending lips away from her.

"I bet he's really glaring at me now." Troy let go of Sharpay and closed her car door, walking around to his own side.

"I'm not in the mood for jokes." Sharpay grumbled.

Troy sighed, "Everything's going to be okay."

* * *

Sharpay ignored the lingering stares as her and Troy got out of his car together. People immediately began crinkling their foreheads and nudging one another, directing their eyes towards the duo.

Troy wrapped his arm around her shoulder, an implication of closeness, but not necessarily a romantic gesture. She looked up at him with worried eyes. He smiled comfortingly at her.

"Maybe you shouldn't have your arm around me until after you've spoken to Gabriella." she said gravely.

Troy sighed and let his arm drop down to his side, allowing her to walk a safer distance away. She was still having trouble letting her grudges go, as much as she wanted to be able to forgive Troy and move on.

"I think we should head Gabriella up first thing this morning." Sharpay said. She was now walking a slight distance ahead of Troy.

"Okay."

The approached the school building. Sharpay was just about to enter the front door when Troy grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"Hey." he said. He leaned in close to her ear. Now all students paused before walking inside the building, staring at Troy and Sharpay, visibly wondering when the two had grown so close.

"I love you." Troy whispered into her ear.

Sharpay couldn't help but allow a small smile to play up on her lips, one that quickly spread. Troy smiled back at her, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and then, ignoring his strong urge to kiss her, escorted her inside of the building.

* * *

Gabriella was already standing beside Troy's locker when he and Sharpay walked up the short stairway towards it.

"Troy." Sharpay froze and clutched his wrist.

"Yeah?"

"I don't know if I should be there when you tell Gabriella about us. It might upset her more if I was. I don't want to serve to humiliate her more than I already have." She bit her lip and looked up for his reaction.

Troy nodded after a moment, "You're right." He sighed loudly. She knew he didn't want to face his girlfriend on his own, but she also knew it was his responsibility. It was time Troy Bolton finally started owning up for his wrong doings.

"Tell her I'm really sorry if it seems right to say." Sharpay glanced over to Gabriella who was staring at them eagerly. "And don't do it out in the middle of the hallway." She added, "Take her up to the roof."

"Okay." Troy nodded forcefully, bouncing on the balls of his feet like he was receiving the big game plan.

Sharpay glanced back at Gabriella one last time, this time smiling softly and waving at her on what was probably her last chance to ever do so. Gabriella smiled brightly and waved back. Sharpay ran her thumb over Troy's hand, and then let go of him, signaling that it was time.

She dialed the combination to her own locker and opened it, while Troy led Gabriella towards the stairwell. She had finally come to witness the moment where Troy left Gabriella to be with her. But she didn't feel nearly as victorious as she had always thought she would.

* * *

"What's up Wildcat?" Gabriella giggled and placed a soft kiss on Troy's lips once they were on top of the roof. He remained stiff.

"Gabriella, we have to talk." He hated the cliche way he'd just started into the conversation. He watched her smile melt away.

"Oh?" she already looked crestfallen.

"I'm such a jackass." He informed her. Gabriella nodded senselessly, afraid of what came next.

"Are you about to give me the 'it's not you it's me' conversation?" she asked, smiling weakly.

"Much more than that." Troy admitted. He withdrew a deep breath and blew it out shakily.

"I haven't been honest with you Gabriella. I-I cheated on you." He looked for her reaction.

Gabriella was numb with shock. She stood, limply, with a look on her face that said she didn't understand.

"I'm so sorry." Troy mumbled.

"With who?" she asked him.

Troy swallowed, "Sharpay."

"_Sharpay_?" Gabriella shook her head, "Oh I'm so dumb. She knows you're up here breaking up with me right now, doesn't she?"

Troy nodded, "Yeah, she knows."

"I'm so stupid." Gabriella winced, "She was waving at me downstairs and smiling. Mocking me. Why would you choose her to cheat on me with?"

"No, no she wasn't mocking you." Troy assured her, "And for what it's worth, she's really sorry too."

"Oh, please. Sorry? She's had plans of this happening since I showed up at this school. I just can't believe you fell into her trap." Gabriella shook her head.

"I kissed her first." Troy came clean, "This is all totally my fault, and I'm the one you should be angry with."

"Oh don't worry. I'm angry at you too." Gabriella still stood in the same spot, arms hanging by her sides, "When did it happen?"

"You mean the first time?" Troy asked.

"It happened more than once?" Gabriella asked in disbelief.

"Damnit." Troy muttered, "Gabriella I'm so sorry."

"How many times?" she asked, ignoring his plea of appology.

"I- I have no idea." he stuttered.

"That many times, huh?" she shook her head in anger.

"For what it's worth, I ended things with Sharpay a few weeks back." Troy said.

"Wait, so are you bringing me up here to confess, in hopes that I'll forgive you?" Gabriella asked incredeously, in words that let him know that if that was his plan, it was a sure fail.

"Not exactly." Troy squeaked out.

"So you are leaving me for Sharpay then?" Gabriella's voice softened, her shoulders sagging, alone and dejected.

"Yes." Troy lowered his eyes to the ground, "She's pregnant."

"Pregnant?" Gabriella's head snapped up, "Troy, you can't be serious!"

"Yeah-"

"Do you have proof of this?" she asked him.

"What do you mean?" Troy asked.

"I mean, did you sit with her while she took the test? Have you gone and looked at an ultrasound? Do you have evidential support that she is in fact pregnant?" Gabriella rattled off.

"Well... no, but, I assume that's something she wouldn't make up." Troy replied slowly.

"Oh, sure. Because Sharpay Evans never lies to get what she wants. She wants you Troy. You ended things with her weeks ago, and then she shows up claiming she's pregnant?" Gabriella raised her eyebrows, waiting for things to click with Troy.

"Gabriella." he said softly, "I really think she's telling the truth. We've gone through a lot with it, and she was really upset about it."

"So what, she's an actress Troy!" Gabriella exclaimed.

"We told my parents last night and we're telling hers this evening." Troy added, as more proof.

"Is the pregnancy the only reason you've decided to be with her?" Gabriella asked, lowering her voice this time, and looking up at him with defeat.

"No." Troy admitted. He lowered his eyes to his feet.

"Oh. I see." Gabriella whispered. "Do you love her?" she asked after a moment.

Troy nodded, "It was an accident." he added, "But I do. And I'm really sorry. You'll always be special to me-"

"I don't want to hear any of that talk." Gabriella said, cutting him off. "You really shouldn't have lied to me. That was wrong of both of you."

"I know." Troy agreed.

"I wasted a lot of time on you." Gabriella continued.

Troy nodded along shamefully.

"You know what? I hope Sharpay really is pregnant. It would serve you both right." Gabriella glared intensely at him, her upper body shaking with anger.

Then she turned and headed for the stairs, leaving Troy alone on the roof top to contemplate all she had just said, and admire her ability to keep her voice at such a reasonable level, despite the given circumstances.

Sharpay surely would have made a scene.

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**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. The next scene's where Sharpay's rents get the unfortunate news! Remember, ten reviews before my next post! (Also review Behind Locked Doors if you haven't, because I won't update it either without more reviews.) **

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxo. **


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hey guys. Sorry it's been so long since I updated this story. I just got back from vacation a couple days ago. But here's the next chapter!**

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"So..." Sharpay broke the ice after having walked in silence side by side with Troy, since he had met up with her at her locker.

She squinted down at the asphalt that paved the front parking lot of East High, the tiny rocks in the ground reflecting brightly from the sun.

"So?" Troy shrugged, and offered his right arm to her, wrapping it around her waist instead when she failed to acknowledge the gesture.

"So, how did Gabriella take things? She was shooting me horrible death glares during math, but I guess that's to be expected." Sharpay shrugged it off, though she truly felt more guilty than she let on. At the beginning, when Gabriella had what she wanted, it was easy for Sharpay to hate her, but now, Sharpay had to deal with the feeling of being in the "winner's" position.

"She was really angry with me." Troy confirmed, "But, you know, she's still a pretty even tempered person, no matter what the circumstances."

Now Sharpay rolled her eyes, despite how badly she felt for what she had done behind Gabriella's back. The Einsteinette had taken the opportunity to tell Sharpay off the previous summer, even succeeding in hurting the indestructible Sharpay's feelings, and she still had a hard time with the fact that all times before and after that, Gabriella's character had almost resembled that of a saint. Why had the mini Mother Teresa's vicious side been spared of everyone at East High, save Sharpay? Of course, mental images of Sharpay moaning underneath Troy while his phone rang, flashing a picture of then girlfriend Gabriella reminded Sharpay that karma perhaps had played a part, and that if it were truly a bitch as the expression went, maybe that came even in the form of Gabriella Montez.

"I think it bothered her more to realize that I really care about you." Troy continued, "It was hard for her to loose me to someone else. She never looses at anything."

"Do you think that's because of karma?" Sharpay mentioned, while it was on her mind.

"Huh?" Troy furrowed his brow against the sun, straining to make out the outline of his sky blue truck.

"Do you think that Gabriella seems to win at everything without even trying, because of karma? You know, because she's so nice twenty four seven." Sharpay elaborated. She opened the passenger door, by now immune to the students' stares, and climbed in.

"Well I wonder what she did for me to screw her over like this." Troy mused, sliding in next to her.

"That's just it. I don't think she did anything. I think this thing- our baby- is the product of karma."

"You mean like our punishment for running around like we did?" Troy chuckled.

"Exactly." Sharpay answered in all seriousness, "And I think Gabriella will end up coming out on top somehow. Getting rid of you will probably be the best thing that ever happened to her."

"Gee thanks." Troy said sarcastically.

He turned the keys in the ignition and then glanced over at the blonde. Her usually glowing face had paled into a sickly shade, and she looked somewhat queasy.

"Are you making that face because of nerves or pregnancy sickness?" Troy asked, "I don't really know how all this works."

"I don't know. Nerves I guess. I think whenever I get sick it's usually in the morning. Not always though." She inhaled deeply and held the breath, glancing down at the car seat and spotting a tiny hole in the interior. She began to pick at it with her thumb nail, using it as a form of distraction from her upset stomach and clammy palms.

"Don't do that." Troy grabbed her hand and pulled it away from the seat. He finally pulled out of his parking space, not in any hurry to make it to his next destination.

"Aren't you nervous?" Sharpay asked after a couple moments of silence.

"I think I'm growing immune." Troy replied, "I mean I was nervous when you first told me you were pregnant. I was nervous when you were suppose to get that abortion. I was nervous when you told me you weren't going to get that abortion. I was nervous when I realized I was going to be a father. I was nervous about telling my parents I was going to be a father. I don't see the point in getting nervous anymore."

Sharpay scowled. It wasn't fair for Troy to act so calm when she was still suffering from anxiety.

"Yeah, well, I'm not the one Daddy's going to kill when we tell him." Sharpay grumbled.

Troy gulped, betraying his denial of nerves five seconds previous.

"You really think he's going to try to kill me?"

"Absolutely." Sharpay said, a hint of satisfaction in her voice from being able to pull Troy back down to her state of havoc, "He keeps guns, and he'll probably go get one. Mother will try to stop him. We'll see."

"B-but we're really going to need your parents help if we're going to have a kid." Troy gripped the steering wheel tightly, leaving large beads of sweat behind when he changed his hands' position.

"By help you mean my parents' money?" Sharpay challenged.

"Well... we are aren't we?"

"Yes." Sharpay sighed and gave in, "We are. I guess it's most important that you try not to cut any ties tonight for that reason."

"I didn't pin all the responsibility on you when we were telling my parents." Troy pointed out.

"I want you to tell them." Sharpay ignored his comment, "I think Daddy will respect that."

"Are you crazy?" Troy exclaimed, "I'm not going to be the one to tell _Daddy_! You tell your own parents. That's how these things work."

"Fine! I really hope he doesn't kill you. I really do." Sharpay shook her head.

Troy laughed, "You're psycho dramatic."

"Wait and see." Sharpay replied, shooting him a sideways glare.

Troy nervously glanced over at Sharpay, unable to determine if she was being serious or not. She ignored his visual pleas and turned her eyes out the direction of the window, firming her lips into an attention grabbing pout.

* * *

Sharpay walked Troy through the front doors of her gorgeous white house, basically a mansion by the average American's standards. Troy had been there many times before, but never with her parents knowing, and never feeling as apprehensive as he did now.

Ryan sat on the couch, watching some childish cartoon on a large wall mounted flat screen. The room he sat in could have easily been a very presentable living room, but Troy knew the real living room was much larger and down the right hallway. Troy never liked it, however. It was decorated too immaculately, so that he always felt intimidated rather than comfortable in it. He preferred the room Ryan now sat in, or the twins' rec room upstairs. He and Sharpay had hooked up in both. In fact, they had had sex on the exact spot where Ryan was sitting many a times, but Troy thought it best not to mention that to her rather squeamish brother.

"Hey Ryan." Sharpay greeted her twin, while Troy stood behind her, feeling like a toddler wanting to hide behind his mother's legs.

"Hey Shar. _Troy._" Ryan made a point of acknowledging Troy, noticing how he was cowering.

"So tonight's the big announcement?" He asked casually, staring up at the television.

"Yep." Sharpay glanced at Troy. She reached for his hand, suddenly needing comfort, and tried to focus on regulating her breathing while Troy caressed her hand gently.

"We're going to tell them after dinner. Tell Elena that we have an extra guest." She instructed her brother, referring to the housekeeper and cook for the Evans family.

"Tell her yourself." Ryan grumbled back.

"Ryan!" Sharpay shouted at him, "I am dealing with mood swings like you wouldn't believe, and I do not need to deal with your crap on the side! Do what I said!"

Ryan waved his hands in the air in mock surrender, just as a pleasant voice from up the stairs called out, "Kitten!", followed by the sound of light footsteps.

"Oh great!" Sharpay hissed, "Now look what you've done. You made me summon mother!"

Troy looked up the stairs to his right just as a small framed blonde woman, dressed in an all white Chanel suit appeared. He recognized her immediately as Darby Evans, Sharpay's mother, with whom he had had several encounters with the previous summer. She hurried down the stairs, beaming widely, a trait Troy had always noted whenever he had seen her. For someone who was so rarely around her children on a day to day basis, she seemed to get a large amount of pride and enjoyment out of them when she was around.

While Ryan quickly jumped to attention, turning off the TV and rushing towards her eagerly like he always did, Sharpay rolled her eyes and glanced away from her mother, clearly not looking foward to the upcoming interactment. Except when she was very sick, Sharpay never seemed to want her mother's company.

"Hello Pumpkin." Darby briefly kissed Sharpay's cheek, and then smiled at Troy. He blushed, not certain if she would remember him or not.

"Troy!" She pulled him in for a hug, while Ryan and Sharpay took advantage of her short disinterest in either of them to flick one another off.

"Hi Mrs. Evans." Troy responded.

"It's good to see you again." Darby said, stepping back to admire the sight of her daughter and Troy standing next to one another, "I always liked you. I was afraid Sharpay had done something to run you off." She winked at Sharpay, who rolled her eyes and sighed heavily in response.

Troy knew that explaining that he and Sharpay had never actually dated the previous summer would be as pointless now as it had been back then.

"I'm still around." He said instead, smiling at his clearly fed up girlfriend, "And I'm very glad to be so too. In fact, you'll probably be seeing a lot more of me if you're around much." He nudged Sharpay.

"Enough." She warned him sharply.

"Are you staying for dinner?" Darby asked him, and then without waiting for an answer, she began walking towards the kitchen. "I'll tell Elena to set an extra plate out." She called back to them.

Sharpay grabbed Troy's hand and led him up the stairs with her. Darby saw this out of the corner of her eye as she was rounding the corner, and she turned around again.

"Sharpay!" She called, "Leave your bedroom door open."

"Oh the irony." Sharpay muttered under her breath.

* * *

Troy had been upset when Sharpay refused to fool around with him, so she agreed to make out with him instead to appease him. After about ten minutes however, Troy grew tired of her slapping his hands away everytime he tried to let them roam underneath her clothes, and he pulled away.

"I don't know when you suddenly turned into such a prude." He grumbled, rubbing the back of his left hand, which had suffered Sharpay's most recent smack.

"I'm not Troy. I'm just nervous."

"Well I bet I know a way to make you relax." Troy started, beginning to crawl towards her.

"Stop." Sharpay quickly fended off his approach, "Not right now. I don't want one of my parents to walk in on us on the same night I have to tell them I'm pregnant."

"Fine." Troy fell back on the bed in exasperation, "Well what else is there to do around here?"

Sharpay didn't reply, but instead jumped up off the bed, closing her bedroom door despite her mother's instructions. She peeled off her clothes, stopping when she was left in her underwear, while Troy leaned foward in excitement.

"You mean we are going to-"

"No." Sharpay quickly cut him off. She stormed towards her closet, disappearing into it for several minutes before she returned in a knee length white dress.

"You're changing for dinner?" Troy questioned.

"White is the color of purity and innocence." Sharpay explained while rummaging through the items laid out on her vanity. She located a white ribbon and tied it into a headband, pushing the bow towards the side.

"So that Daddy will still believe your a virgin even when you tell him your pregnant?" Troy asked, "Does he really think your precious enough to carry the second coming of baby Jesus?"

"You're not funny." Sharpay snapped.

She admired her reflection satisfactorily as Troy approached her from behind.

"Your mom looked really nice too. I feel too underdressed now." He glanced down at his gray v-neck t-shirt.

"You look fine." Sharpay assured him, "But if you want, I could find you something of Ryan's to put on."

"No, no, no! That's okay!" Troy quickly responded, "Some guys can really pull of the hot pink tapered pants look, but, uh, I'm definitely not one of them."

Sharpay giggled, "The boy wears his hats well too."

"That he does." Troy replied.

He pulled her towards him in a kiss.

* * *

"Supper's ready!"

Troy jumped when he heard Darby's voice sound through the intercom he never knew existed.

"Now that's just preppy." Troy commented.

"I don't like it either." Sharpay agreed, sliding off the bed they had resituated themselves on to make out more while waiting. "Nobody uses it except mother and sometimes Elena."

The two made their way down the stairs, finding everyone else already gathered when they reached the kitchen.

"Troy Bolton!" Vance Evans bellowed when he spotted the young boy with his arm wrapped around his daughter. "How's your dad?"

Vance landed an agressive pat on the back of Troy's back as means of greeting. Troy winced and imagined what sort of damage Sharpay's father could do if he actually intended him harm. Troy repeatedly tried to remind himself that he was merely a middle-aged man with a slight pot belly and nothing more, no matter how much clout and money was attached to his name.

"He's good." Troy squeaked, doing his best to smile at Vance, and not look guilty.

"I haven't seen you in a while." Vance continued, "Did you do something to upset my daughter?"

Troy started to fake a laugh but caught himself just in time, seeing Vance's face and realizing he wasn't joking around. Fortunately, Sharpay quickly intervened.

"He didn't do anything Daddy. Troy and I have actually been _dating _for a while now, but I choose not to bring him around again until I was sure it was serious."

Troy noticed how she nearly choked on the word dating. Fucking was the word she meant. He realized with shame that they had never been on anything close to a date.

"So it's getting serious now, is it?" Vance chuckled, and pulled Sharpay into a tight hug, "Alright then princess. I'm just looking out for you."

"Vance. Sit down." Darby instructed her husband sternly, "You're making poor Troy nervous. Just look at how his legs are shaking."

Troy's face reddened in embarassment. Vance smiled and found his seat at the head of the table, across from Darby. Troy and Sharpay quickly joined the rest of the family, sitting down in front of plates already covered with food.

They ate in silence for several minutes, and Troy was beginning to feel uncomfortable. However, when Vance broke the silence Troy wasn't exactly relieved.

"So Troy, you and Sharpay are pretty serious now?" He asked, pulling from his daughter's own words.

"Yes sir." Troy responded.

"What does that mean to you?"

Troy gulped, feeling cornered. If he made up some bullshit answer now, would that only serve to make Sharpay's parents angrier after dinner when they found out the true extent of his relationship with Sharpay?

Sharpay evidentally realized this too, because she stiffened, and looked up in alarm.

"Vance." Darby warned, noticing how both teens had grown tense.

"I just want to hear his answer." Vance replied innocently.

Sharpay looked towards her mother to see if she would protest anymore, but Darby seemed to have lost interest already, once again returning her focus to her plate.

"Actually Daddy." Sharpay sighed, deciding now would be as good a time as any, "We were going to wait until after dinner to tell you this, but Troy and I have some news. Actually, I think Troy wanted to tell you himself." She nudged him.

Troy gulped, feeling panicked. Vance dropped his fork down on his plate and leaned back apprehensively, not looking in the least bit happy. Probably because he knew what was coming next. Troy couldn't very well argue with Sharpay now about who got to tell her parents the "news". If he did, he was sure he'd only succeed in making Vance angry, something he didn't want. Sharpay placed a hand on his back and urged him to go on with her eyes. As selfish as Troy thought she was being, she actually did believe that her father would respond better to Troy were he to take the initiative and admit to the situation they were in on their own.

"Well, sir, maam," Troy addressed both of Sharpay's parents and then cleared his throat loudly, "I love your daughter very much."

Sharpay nodded softly to him in encouragement.

"I hope that's the only thing you came here to tell me." Vance warned.

Darby too had stopped eating now, and was staring the two teens down just as fervently. Ryan was staring down intensely into his lap, suddenly wishing he'd faked a stomach ache so that he wouldn't have to sit through the painful moment.

"No sir." Troy responded nervously, "Sharpay and I, a-are going to have" He stopped and glanced at Sharpay once again, grabbing her hand and squeezing it tightly, "a baby." he finished.

Darby's eyes closed as if to blink, but did not reopen. She placed her forehead in her palm.

"Oh Sharpay." She murmured, "How irresponsible."

Sharpay solemnly turned her wide set brown eyes to look at her father, who had yet to utter a word.

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**A/N: To see Vance's reaction, and how Sharpay's parents ultimately take the news, remember, ten reviews before the next update. Thanks for the thirteen reviewers last chapter. **

**I don't know about my fellow Troypay writers out there, but it's starting to feel like I'm fighting a losing battle what with the ridiculously low review count these days and what not. You want to know how many reviews I got for my last chapter of Behind Locked Doors? Five. Come on. That's just insulting. I guess I'll have to finish for my own personal satisfaction.**

**Also, I need some help on ending this story. I'm going to wrap it up pretty soon. So should I leave it open ended, with a still pregnant Troypay, go fowards to the birth, do one of those flash to the future final chapters? All suggestions are welcome.**

**For the small number of readers still out there, please, please, review. **

**xoxo, A.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Oh my goodness! 23 reviews for the last chapter! Thank you all so much for reviewing. I really hope everyone of you will review this chapter too, because that just felt awesome. A virtual hug to each and everyone of you. **

**So, after I gage Vance's reaction, I bet your all wondering how I'm going to carry this story to the finish line. Princess0771 suggested that I do semi-time leaps leading up to the labor, like one chapter for every three months that has passed. I liked the idea, and I'm running with it. Then after that, I'm pretty sure everyone of you said you wanted one of those flash foward epilogue endings. So now that you know how I'm managing my fic, enjoy the chapter.**

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Troy and Sharpay sat in stiff fear as they studied Vance Evans' facial expressions, waiting for an explosion at any moment. Troy was silently praying for a giant hole in the ground to suddenly open up and swallow him and Sharpay, and take them anywhere, as long as it was away from their current grim circumstances.

Vance finally opened his mouth to speak, "Living room, everyone. Now." His words were firm, and he stood up from his chair, glaring down at Troy before exiting the dining room.

Darby stood up drearily, without a glance towards her daughter or anyone else.

"Mom?" Ryan asked, "Should I go upstairs or something?"

"Did you know about this already?" Darby ignored Ryan's question, instead formulating one of her own.

"Well..." Ryan shrugged a response.

"That's what I thought." Darby replied softly. She left the room without answering her son.

Troy and Sharpay remained numbly planted to their chairs. Sharpay stared straight ahead without blinking, feeling incapable of movement.

"Living room, now!" Vance's booming roar quickly startled Sharpay out of staring into space, as she jumped to attention.

She sprung up from her chair, looking like a frightened kitten, and quickly rushed out of the room, not even bothering to see if Troy was following behind her. Troy stood up and quickly followed, and even Ryan walked towards the living room, deciding that tonight, it was best just to do what was asked of him, and try to blend into the background as much as possible.

Vance was standing in the middle of the living room, while Darby sat, perched on the end of an antique armchair, her ankles neatly crossed, and her hands folded delicately at her knees. Vance's choice of placement was directly across from an empty Victorian style sofa, and Sharpay immediately rushed to it. Troy sat down beside her, and she crossed her legs absentmindedly, forgetting she was in her mother's presence.

"Uncross your legs Sharpay. You'll have blue veins running up your thighs by the time you're twenty five." Darby instructed.

Sharpay rolled her eyes, but did as she was told, silently musing to herself how like her mother it was to ignore the main problem at hand for a minute issue that nobody but herself was concerned about anyways. Troy tilted his head to the side, trying to discreetly get a look at Sharpay's thighs, to see if there was any truth to what Darby said. As far as he could tell, there wasn't, as he didn't see any veins showing in Sharpay's legs, but then again, she was only seventeen, eight years away from twenty five.

"Are you trying to see up my daughter's skirt?"

Troy jumped at Vance's words, and shook his head vehemently.

Sharpay glared over at Troy and shot him a look that clearly read, 'What the hell is wrong with you?'

"No. I-I wasn't. I was trying to see the... veins." Troy looked down at the starch white carpet, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

Vance let it slide, moving on to the more obtrusive issue, "So, you've gotten my daughter pregnant, have you?"

"Yes sir." Troy squeaked back. He glanced over at Sharpay. She sat with her hands folded in her lap, looking up at her father with fearful and innocent eyes. She must have been correct about her outfit choice, because looking at her now, Troy did find it very hard to believe she was the same girl he'd had sex with a countless number of times over the previous month.

"Well then, what are your plans to support her, now that you've laid waste to her future, and left her without any options?" Vance glowered at Troy.

Troy couldn't help but feel like his treatment was a little unfair. Of course, he'd expected this reaction out of Sharpay's father, but if he were in a less compromising position he would have to point out that it took two to tango. Troy certainly hadn't beaten Sharpay over the head and had sex with her against her will.

"Um..." Troy tried to speak but could feel his tongue stuttering at every attempt to formulate a word, "I- I haven't... I'm not sure...yet." He trailed off, and then completely stopped speaking, knowing that anything else he tried to say would be of the same nature.

"Is that your answer?" Vance crossed his arms, and from where Darby sat in her chair, she lowered her eyes towards the two teens disapprovingly.

"You thought you were grown up enough to have sex, so you must be grown up enough to figure out how you're going to raise a child." Vance reasoned, "Sharpay, I don't see a ring on your left hand, so I assume that Mr. Bolton is waiting until the time is right to ask you to marry him?" He raised his eyes pointedly at his daughter.

"He hasn't asked yet Daddy." Sharpay replied softly.

"Yet?" Troy's eyes expanded to a point they never had before, and he looked at Sharpay in panic. He had never heard the word marriage uttered from her mouth, but as soon as her father was setting it as an expectation, she didn't even seem bothered by it.

"Do you have a problem with marrying my daughter?" Vance's tone clearly warned Troy that his answer had better be a solid, 'No.'

"Well, it's not that I don't love Sharpay, but we haven't even discussed that. Ever." Troy looked over at Sharpay, pleading with her with his eyes. She only adverted her eye contact though, offering him no safety.

"I'm not sure if we're ready to get married right now." Troy tried to swallow, but his entire throat had dried, and he was suddenly desperate for a sip of water.

"You're not ready for marriage, but you're ready to have a child?" Vance crossed his arms over his chest menacingly, "So what do you plan on doing? Leaving Sharpay alone to raise a baby, while you're off doing whatever you please?"

"No. I plan on raising the baby with Sharpay, but..." Troy trailed off, not sure how to finish his sentence.

"But what? You don't want to be with her? Do you think 'raising a child together' constitutes leaving her by herself, and coming for visits on weekends?"

"No. I assumed Sharpay and I would live together, I just..." Troy floundered, realizing that Sharpay's father had very easily backed him into a corner.

"So you're going to live with her, you're going to have a baby with her, but you won't do my daughter the decency of marrying her?"

Though Troy didn't like the way he was being pressured, he did see Vance's point.

"I guess you're right." He admitted.

Darby smiled and nodded her head once soundly, "Well I'm glad that's settled. I'll admit none of the circumstances are favorable, but can you imagine what people would think were Sharpay to have a child _out _of wedlock?" Darby shook her head at the thought, ridding it once and for all.

"No, a shotgun wedding is much more _classy._" Ryan voiced sarcastically from the couch, where he lay on his back, staring at the ceiling while listening to the conversation.

Darby and Vance both shot their son a pointed glare, and he pulled his hat off the top of his head, covering it over his face, in a way of dismissing himself from the room.

"We need your help." Sharpay finally spoke up, "We honestly have no idea what we're going to do. It's just, I considered abortion and I couldn't go through with it, and I realized as ill prepared as I am to become a parent, I can't give up my own child. I don't know where we're going to live, what we're going to do to support ourselves. I'm really, really scared."

Sharpay's voice cracked several times and her mouth started to quiver as she finished speaking. Troy felt alarmed himself seeing the expression on her face, and realizing she felt the same amount of fear she did.

Before Troy had ever gotten together with Sharpay, he had seen her as a spoiled brat, completely dependent on Daddy's money. In fact, she had always perfectly fit the "damsel in distress" mold, in his opinion. But after being with her, and seeing her handle the cards she'd been dealt recently, it had become very apparent to Troy that Sharpay's stubbornness and locked determination did in fact make her a very strong person. True, in her past the means by which she went by to achieve the things she wanted were sometimes questionable. But she never gave up, and she certainly wasn't easily shaken.

But now, Troy was finally seeing Sharpay's true emotions reflected on the expression in her face. She was as scared out of her mind as Troy was, and that only served to frighten him more.

"Well, I certainly wouldn't tolerate any grandchild of mine growing up in some cramped apartment on the wrong side of town." Darby assured.

She seemed to be reprocessing what she had just said in her head and after a moment her face twisted up.

"I don't want to be called 'Grandmother'. I'm much too young to be one, anyway." Darby decided, "After all, I'm only thirty nine."

"You're forty four." Sharpay snapped back before realizing that she needed to be on good terms with her parents at the moment.

Darby pursed her lips and directed her eye level to the left wall, clearly displeased. Troy decided to try his luck at a comeback.

"Wow. I never would have guessed." He started.

Darby raised her right eyebrow and eyed Troy skeptically.

"I just assumed you were a teenage mother yourself. I wouldn't have believed you were over thirty five if you hadn't said so yourself." Troy hoped he didn't sound like too much of a kiss-ass, but Sharpay had always been so easily affected by flattery, that he thought it might have run in the family.

Ryan scoffed from underneath his hat, but Darby allowed a small smile to tug at her lips, and gave a small nod to Troy as a thank you.

"You're a smooth talker Troy." Vance commented, "Did you use that to your advantage when you manipulated my daughter into getting in bed with you?"

Troy's mouth fell open, "I did not!"

He looked to Sharpay for support. She patted his knee softly, but continued to stare straight ahead at her father soberly.

"I can buy you a house princess. As a _wedding gift_." Vance concluded. He lowered his eyes at Troy, making his point clear.

"Soon." Darby interjected, "You don't want to walk down the aisle looking like a beach ball."

"No, Darby." Vance argued, "We don't want them to have an official ceremony. We'll send them down to the court house and have them sign the papers. Then we can tell everyone that they were married privately several months ago. We'll say that Sharpay was so in love, she didn't want to wait through college before she settled down. She's in line to take over a country club anyways. As far as everyone is concerned, she can afford to start a family whenever she wants."

Ryan jumped upright into sitting position, his hat falling into his lap, "Why is Sharpay the one in line to take over Lava Springs? She's never worked a day in her life! She'd wreck the place in a week!"

"Oh, and you have so much work experience?" Sharpay retorted with a snort.

"When we work backstage in the Drama department, at least I help build sets and paint props, instead of just standing around telling everyone else what to do." Ryan argued.

Sharpay rolled her eyes, "That's what Daddy does all day Ryan."

Vance chuckled, "I don't plan on retiring any time soon. When you get back from Julliard, and decide you still want the country club, then half of it will be yours."

"Oh, yeah that'd be a dream come true." He muttered sarcastically, "Even as an adult, Sharpay could continue to boss me around and manage my career."

"Hush Duckie." Darby instructed, "I hate to see the two of you quarrel."

Troy stood up, awkwardly pushing his hands into his pockets, "Um, my mother wanted to invite your family over to dinner later this week, and asked me to give you her number." He glanced back and forth between Darby and Vance, not sure which one of them he should be addressing.

Darby stood up as well, and walks towards him, stopping when she stood beside Vance.

"That sounds lovely." She said with a smile, "We'd certainly love to attend. Give your mother's number to Elena before you leave, and ask her to give you ours. She should be in the kitchen, most likely."

Sharpay rolled her eyes, wondering how difficult it could possibly be for Darby to take ten seconds to write the number down on a Post-it herself.

"As for us, I think we better retire for the night." Darby linked an arm with Vance, "It's been quite a stressful evening, and I believe I've had about all I can handle for one day. I'll call your mother tomorrow Troy, and all of us can talk more on this then."

Sharpay stared at her mother in disbelief, truly shocked that after all that had been revealed, she didn't want to stay and talk any longer. She had expected her parents to react a bit more like Troy's, and want to stay and talk with her through the night. But her father nodded his head in agreement.

He placed a kiss on the top of Sharpay's head, "Goodnight Princess."

He looked over his shoulder and called, "Goodnight son," to Ryan, without any physical contact.

Troy smiled a little. Sharpay had mentioned her mother's supposed favoritism towards Ryan several times, but she'd never taken the liberty to note her father's reciprocation of the act towards her.

Darby quickly rushed to give each of her children a kiss on the cheek, and then arm and arm, exited the living room to retire to their own quarters for the night.

"What the hell?" Sharpay exclaimed in disbelief, as soon as they were out of sight.

"What?" Troy asked.

"Did you see that? They just completely walked out of the room!"

"Uh, yeah. They went to bed." Troy shrugged.

"After their seventeen year old daughter just announced she's having a baby!" Sharpay flung her hands into the air, and then fell back onto the sofa.

"Well, I think your dad got the lecture the boyfriend act right." Troy said.

Sharpay shook her head, "I swear. My mother won't let it sink in until I hand her the baby to hold for the very first time."

Troy sat down beside her, and placed a hand on her leg, "They're going to help us. A lot. You're dad said he was going to buy us a house."

Sharpay leaned into Troy, nestling her head into his neck. Troy gulped and glanced down at her frenzy of blonde hair, realizing he finally had the opportunity to discuss Vance's plans with Sharpay in private.

"Well... He said he'll buy us a house if we get married."

Sharpay looked up at him, and placed a hand on his cheek, "Do you not want to? I realize it's sudden. But, Daddy did have a point, and if we're going to be having a baby together anyways, and that's what it's going to take to get Daddy's support, I don't think it would even make that big of a difference. Marriage is just a piece of paper, right?"

Troy kissed her forehead, "I don't think marriage is just a piece of paper. But I do love you Sharpay. I swear I do, and I have for much longer than I let on. I'll marry you."

Sharpay smiled, and kissed him, then crawled up onto his lap, placing her hands on his chest, and leaning in to his ear.

"Plus, if we're married and live together, that means you can sleep with me every night, without any interruptions." She whispered into his ear.

"Oh yeah?" Troy kissed her lips softly, "Well what about tonight?"

"My parents bedroom is downstairs, on the opposite wing. I don't think they would hear us." Sharpay smiled and leaned in to kiss him again.

"Oh my god! Ew! I'm still in the room!"

Sharpay and Troy both looked up to see Ryan springing off the other couch in a hissy.

"You had every opportunity to leave." Sharpay said, giggling softly.

"The conversation was kind of interesting." Ryan grumbled, walking past them to leave, "But that was just disgusting. Now I have to go to bed knowing you two are two doors down going at it. Ugh!"

Sharpay smiled and caught Ryan's hand as he was walking behind the sofa.

"I love you Ry." She informed him, "Mom and Dad may not want to sit around and talk about what I'm going through, but you have, and it means a lot."

Ryan smiled and leaned foward, kissing her cheek, "I love you too sis."

Once Ryan had left the room, Sharpay turned her head around again to look at Troy.

She waggled her eyebrows suggestively, "Now where were we?"

* * *

**A/N: So what do you think about Sharpays rents' reaction? Let me know. **

**I was going to make this chapter really long, and include the dinner meeting between the Evans and Boltons this chapter, but people have been PMing me, asking when I was going to update, and I succumbed to peer pressure, and decided to end it while still in the same night. **

**Haha, I have to say, I really really love Darby Evans. My dad and I watched High School Musical 2 together once, and were cracking up every time she came on, because she IS my mother. Right down to the yoga. I wish I could stick a slight southern drawl on her, and she'd be perfect. **

**I really hope everybody reviews again this time. Again, thank you all so much for reviewing. I wanted to note, that I've tried to reply when people review, but it gets hard to keep up with, so I'm sorry to all those I've failed to reply to. However, I will say that I always reply to the long reviews. (Hint, hint. ;p) Either way though, I truly appreciate all those who have taken the time to praise and encourage. And trust me, it really does make a difference as far as me updating. I wouldn't have any motivation otherwise. **

**xoxo.**


	19. Chapter 19

Sharpay opened her eyes wearily, feeling movement in her room.

"You're not staying?" She brought her bed sheets up to her bare chest, as if it were wounded.

"I don't want to get either one of us in trouble." Troy answered, slipping on his t-shirt, the last item of clothing needed to fully cover him.

"Come on Troy. Both of our parents know that you and I are having a baby together. I don't think us having a little sleepover is going to be that big of a shock now." Sharpay reasoned. She patted the empty side of the bed next to her hopefully, and angled her head downwards, allowing her blonde hair to fall down around her shoulders, in as alluring of a pose she could muster, given her current state of sleepiness.

"My parents will still be pissed if I don't come home. And I really don't want to deal with your father again in the morning." Troy shuddered at the thought, and grabbed his shoes from the floor decisively.

"Send your parents a text now, saying you're staying here tonight to take care of me, your _pregnant _girlfriend, and don't worry about Daddy. He won't be up yet when we leave." Sharpay layed back down against her pillow, and when Troy didn't immediately join her, she added somewhat agitated, "Come on!"

"Fine." Troy hooked his thumbs into the button of his jeans and let the slide back down his hips. He grabbed his cellphone off of Sharpay's nightstand and quickly sent a text message to his father's phone:

_Staying at Sharpay's tonight. She needs me. See you tomorrow._

He slid in next to Sharpay again, admittedly happy to be incased in the warmth once more. Sharpay let out a happy sigh of content, and snuggled her body into Troy's, nestling her head in the crook of his neck.

"It's nice to have you stay the whole night." She murmured.

Troy kissed the top of her head in response, and reached down to her unclothed stomach, rubbing it softly.

"Can you feel anything?" Sharpay asked.

"Not really." Troy admitted.

"Me either." Sharpay frowned, and let one of her hands wander down to join Troy's. "Everything seems so hypothetical right now, I mean with our parents, and living together, and _marriage_ when the only proof I have that a baby even exists is a couple of sticks with little plus signs on them."

Troy shifted down the bed, so that his head was in line with Sharpay's stomach. He kissed it, making her giggle, then pressed his ear up against it.

"You hear anything?" She asked after a moment, "A heart beat or something?"

"No." Troy answered, "Sorry Pay."

He left one more kiss on her tummy and resurfaced face to face with her again. He wrapped his arms around her, cradling her against him.

She yawned loudly, "That's okay. I'm too tired to worry about that right now anyway. Goodnight Troy. I love you."

"Love you too." Troy replied back, as her eyelids fluttered off.

* * *

At six a.m. Sharpay's alarm rang, and Troy barely managed to hold open his heavy eyes as Sharpay stirred and silenced it. She groaned loudly, sitting up in bed, and letting out a mock cry.

"No!" She moaned.

"Let's go back to bed." Troy answered with a yawn.

"We have school." She pointed out.

"So? We'll be late, and you can just show up in sweats. It's not like you have anyone to impress. You've already got your dream boy." Troy nuzzled his nose against Sharpay's neck cheekily.

"Ugh. Your breath smells really bad in the morning." She commented, before standing up anyways, and with a flip of a switch, forcing the lights on him.

"Yeah well yours doesn't exactly smell like a bed of roses either princess." Troy grumbled, laying back down in bed.

"Troy!" Sharpay reprimanded.

"Relax." He replied, "It takes me five minutes to shower, and five minutes to throw on some clothes and brush my teeth."

After a later moment of thought, Troy sat back up again, "Unless you want me to join you in the shower?" He asked hopefully.

Sharpay rolled her eyes and shook her head, "I have to get ready. If I take the kind of shower you're talking about I'll have to take another one just to get clean from the first one."

"No you won't. I like you dirty." Troy smiled as he heard one of Sharpay's shoes come hurling through the air before hitting him squarely in the head.

"Didn't hurt." He mumbled, earning him another blow.

* * *

"Do you think Gabriella's told anybody?" Sharpay asked, nestled in Troy's armpit as they walked through the main hallway of East High.

"Well, everyone's staring at us." Troy gestured to the majority of the students, who kept throwing obvious glances Troy and Sharpay's way, before whispering amongst their friends.

"Yeah, but that could just because we've been attached to the hip the past couple of days, while everyone thinks you're supposed to be with Montez." Sharpay bit her bottom lip and turned her head to make eye contact with a sophmore girl who was watching the two with fascinating attention.

"What?" Sharpay snapped at her, her tone of voice biting.

The girl jumped and then shook her head, searching for words to decline Sharpay's challenging glare, "Nothing." She squeaked. Quickly, she turned on her heels and made a beeline towards the west wing of the school, and away from Sharpay.

"That wasn't nessecary." Troy scolded.

Sharpay shrugged, "Pregnancy hormones."

"You don't get to use that excuse for the next nine months." Troy warned.

"Shut it or I'll bite your head off too." Sharpay answered, before directing her attention towards the open stairwell reaching towards the lockers. "I just saw Gabriella walk by. I want to go talk to her."

"Do you really think that's a smart idea?" Troy asked, "She's not exactly feeling you right now."

"Oh really? Because I was planning on inviting her to a movie and a slumber party at my house." Sharpay snapped back sarcastically.

Rolling her eyes she continued, "I just want to ask if she's told anyone yet. I mean, I guess eventually everyone will figure it out anyways, when I start getting round, and you're attending to my every need. But I'd at least like to know where we currently stand."

"Tending to your every need?" Troy asked skeptically. However, one glare from Sharpay rendered him silent, and he nodded with acceptance.

Sharpay walked briskly towards the stairs, the sounds of her slingbacks hitting the floor creating more noise than such small heels deserved to make. Troy reluctantly followed, definitely not in the mood for a close encounter with the two girls he'd screwed over the most at the same time. He could picture a mutiny forming in his mind, where the two hashed things out and suddenly turned on Troy, united by the common abuse they had underwent at his fault.

Sharpay did not bother to glance back over her shoulder, that was until she was only yards away from Gabriella's side profile, who was unloading her bookbag into her locker. Sharpay swallowed and looked back hesitantly at Troy, suddenly questioning her decision to approach his extremely upset with cause ex-girlfriend.

"Hey Gabriella." Sharpay finally said, her voice shaking slightly while she tried to remain casual. Awkwardly, she attempted to shove her hands into the pockets of her jeans, but found that they were too tight to allow it, so she settled with gripping the hem of her tank top instead.

Gabriella turned solemnly to face Sharpay, and raised one eyebrow at her in distaste. "Hey Sharpay. Troy."

"Uh, hi." Troy replied, feeling like a bungling idiot for having remained a good four feet behind the girls.

"What do you want?" Gabriella asked Sharpay straight foward. She ran her eyes down her body, and Sharpay's cheeks burned when they stopped at her stomach. Troy, who knew of Gabriella's skepticism already towards the likelyhood of Sharpay being pregnant, realized she must have been looking for evidence.

"You're not showing at all. If there's even going to be anything to show." Gabriella added, before Sharpay had a chance to respond.

"Listen." Sharpay started, but then she paused and mentally reviewed Gabriella's last statement, "Wait. What's that supposed to mean?"

"You were after Troy the entire time I was with him, and this certainly wouldn't be the craziest thing you've ever schemed up." Gabriella shrugged, balancing her English book in her right arm, while her bookbag was hooked on her left.

"Excuse me?" The seconds ago dormant Sharpay had once again been activated, and she clenched her teeth together, pushing her lower lip down to show them, while her eyes widened to match her heightened sense of disbelief.

"You seriously think I would risk ruining Troy's and my reputation and future, because I'm that keen on 'stealing' him from you?"

"I wouldn't put it past you." Gabriella answered, pursing her lips together in disapproval.

"You just can't accept the fact that your perfect boyfriend had sex with me and not with you. Baby or no baby, that definitely happened. A lot." Sharpay smirked, "Every night after he went out with you, he made love to me. And every time he canceled plans with you because he claimed he was 'sick' or had extra practice, he was really blowing you off to be with me. He even called you while we were having sex a couple of times to break your plans."

"Sharpay." Troy finally cut in, as a warning to reel it back in. He understood why Sharpay felt so defensive, given all the hell she'd been through the past couple of weeks involving the pregnancy, but at the same time, he hated to see Gabriella made to feel even more shitty by having the fact that she was cheated on rubbed in her face by his accomplice.

Gabriella tugged at her mouth, struggling to keep it straight, while her eyes showed the distant evidence of tears.

"I hate you." She spat at Sharpay, her voice soft and quiet, and then she turned to leave, not bothering to wonder what Sharpay had actually wanted in the first place.

The misty look in Gabriella's eyes cause Sharpay to teeter back over to the edge of sympathy, while her flash of temper subdued, and an immediate wash of guilt overcame her.

"Gabriella wait." Sharpay stepped foward and grabbed her by the arm.

Gabriella bore her eyes into the place where Sharpay's hand rested on her, and Sharpay withdrew it slightly, quickly exchanging the physical contact for eye contact.

"I'm really sorry. For everything. What Troy and I did was really wrong, and you didn't deserve it. You're a really nice person." Sharpay nodded, not sure that the apology would suffice as it was, but also not sure how to continue while still maintaining the sincerity.

Gabriella shook her head, "You know, now that I realize what an incredible jerk Troy is, I'm actually starting to think you two really do make a great couple." She glanced down in the ground, and then on an impulse added, "I hope he cheats on you too." It came out so fast that even Gabriella looked surprised that she had said it, and she quickly pressed her lips together, turning again and attempting to make her exit.

"Gabriella wait!" Sharpay called again.

Gabriella sighed loudly and turned back around, "What?"

"Um..." Sharpay still wanted to ask Gabriella what she had originally intended to, although she realized how embarassing it would be to do so now. "I was wondering... Have you told anyone about... my situation?"

"No." Gabriella answered, "And don't worry. I don't plan to. Though I assume if you're not lying and you really are pregnant, people are going to find out anyways. But you don't have to worry about me being the reason. I'm not like you."

Gabriella finally turned and left for good, and Sharpay turned around to face Troy, who had been watching the mild confrontation passively.

"Well that went well." Sharpay muttered.

"Yeah." Troy nodded slowly, then put his arm around Sharpay's shoulders, "Nice way to start the day."

* * *

Basketball season had ended a few weeks ago, so Troy was able to avoid his dad that day until he returned home in the afternoon, after dropping Sharpay off at her house. She'd asked him to come inside, but he figured after staying out the previous night without permission, not to mention a day after he had announced that he had impregnated the girl he was cheating on his girlfriend with, he felt it would be wisest for him to go directly home.

When he arrived, he was suprised to see both his father and mother already there. He wasn't expecting them to be home that early, but reluctantly he trudged into the kitchen, hearing the noise of his parents' chatter from the room. He was greeted by the pleasant smell of whatever his mom was concocting in a large skillet on the stove, while his father sat at the kitchen table, thumbing through the sports section of the paper.

"Troy." His dad greeted him casually.

"Uh, hey guys." Troy rubbed the back of his neck in anticipation, ready for the trust and responsibility speech to kick in at any given moment.

"Hi Troy." His mother replied, walking back over to the pot, and pouring white whine into the pan.

Troy leaned over and inhaled, "Whatcha cooking?" He asked, still waiting to be reprimanded.

"Chicken Cordon Bleu." She answered,"I talked to Darby Evans this afternoon during my lunch break. They're coming over at five thirty. It seems a little early, but she insisted, because she said 'We have a lot to talk about.'"

"Oh." Troy bounced on the balls of his feet anxiously for a moment, dying for his parents to hurry in with the punishment. Unable to take the suspense, he sold himself out and dove in first, "Listen, about last night. I'm sorry, it's just-"

"No need to be sorry." His mother cut in briskly, "If Sharpay needs you at any time during her pregnancy, I agree you should be there for her, no matter the time."

Jack sighed loudly from the table, and Lucille quickly turned around to give him a pointed stare. Whatever the two communicated non-verbally was clearly a follow up to an earlier conversation, but Troy wasn't too interested in its contents, still preoccupied with his own dilemmas.

"You're not mad?" Troy couldn't completely hide the disbelief in his voice.

"Nope." His mother rested a hand on Troy's shoulder, "You've got adult responsibilities of your own now, and if you're going to be ready to raise a child in a number of months, we need to start letting you make those decisions on your own. You've got a family to take care of."

"Well," Troy took a step back, "Technically I don't have a family right now. I just have Sharpay, and she's only my girlfriend."

"She's the mother of your child." Lucille corrected him, "And the two of you are a family. From here on out." She nodded in agreement with her own words and went back to her meal in progress on the stovetop.

After a moment, she looked over at Troy's paniced expression, and sighed softly, "I'm not trying to freak you out, but if you're going to take on the responsibility of having a child, you're going to have to do that fully, and you can't put it off. It starts now. I understand how scared you are Troy, and I promise to be here for support, but your father and I agree that you are going to have to be accountable for things that truthfully might be far over your head at your age."

Jack looked up from his paper, looking agitated, "We did not agree! I agreed that Troy is a kid, he's not in any way prepared or capable of being a parent, and that as his own loving parents, we should ground him, keep him away from the blondie, and talk her parents into giving the baby up for adoption."

Troy heaved heavily, "You can't do that dad. Sharpay has her own rights to her own baby, regardless of what my or her parents think."

"Why?" Jack's voice perked up slightly, "Are her parents for an adoption too?"

"Actually no." Troy took in a deep breath, ready to disclose the rest of the plans that had been made at Sharpay's house the night before.

Jack huffed loudly, and interrupted, "Well fine. Let Sharpay keep the baby if that's what she wants. But Troy just because she wants to ruin her own future doesn't mean she should ruin yours too."

"Jack!" Lucille slammed a box of crackers she had just retrieved from the cabinet down onto the counter loudly. "Troy should be held just as much in contempt as her. It's just as much his responsibility. I know we wish that they were making a different decision, but I'm not having you sit here and encourage Troy to cheat away from his liabilities and abandon his pregnant teenage girlfriend."

"I didn't say abandon! Troy could work through college to pay child support. That's all that's required of him by law." Jack argued.

"Just because that's all the law requires doesn't mean that Troy would be doing the right thing. You wouldn't be doing the right thing, would you Troy?" His mother looked at him expectantly, while Troy nearly choked while he tried to speak before his father had a chance to rebuttal.

"Sharpay's just a little girl! She's not old enough to be a mother either. Neither one of them is doing the right thing by bringing a child into an unfit home with ill equipped parents!" Jack insisted.

Troy sputtered, scouring his memory, trying to remember how to exercise his vocal chords in his desperate attempt to get a word in edge wise.

"But you don't get to make this decision for them! They're going to be parents soon, with just as many prenotions about what's best for their kid as you have for Troy. But in the end, you have to step back and let them make their own decisions. Here!" Lucille thrust a plate of cheese and crackers down on the table where Jack sat.

"You made me a snack?" The right corner of his mouth upturned a little despite the heated debate.

"No." Lucille replied cooly, "They're for Troy."

Jack's mouth fell open, and he slapped his hands down on the table cloth, "How do you expect him to take on 'adult responsibilities' when you're still making his snacks for him?"

"I'll always be his mother, even when he's forty five. Besides, I'm sure Sharpay will do the same for him."

Troy couldn't help but laugh out loud at the mental image of Sharpay attempting anything domestic.

Apparently Jack was thinking the same, but no sooner had Troy muttered, "Yeah right.", than Jack sounded in with, "Not in a million years."

Lucille glared at both of them, "Men." she angrily grumbled.

* * *

The time couldn't have been more than three minutes maximum distance from five thirty on the dot when the doorbell rang.

"They're here already?" Lucille screeched.

"It's time." Troy pointed out.

"Quick, quick, finish setting the table!" His mother hissed.

Troy complied, grabbing the silverware still arranged on the counter and trying his best to set the table, raking the back of his brain to remember the correct order to place the silverware as it had been taught in the required home economics class he had taken in middle school. When his memory failed, he quickly made up an order of his own and completed the task in a matter of seconds.

Lucille rushed to the door, and opened it to reveal the Evans family, all smiling brightly as if it were nothing but joyous reasons that brought them to the Bolton residence.

"Hello! Come on in." Lucille ushered the family inside.

"Hello." Darby replied cheerfully, leaning in and pecking each of Lucille's cheeks in turn, catching her off guard. Lucille managed to come to her senses, and return the European gesture, but only quickly enough to make some sort of fish face, while she tried to pucker her lips fast enough. Darby retreated, and beamed when she saw Troy step into the room, smiling awkwardly while he fidgeted with his hands.

Sharpay giggled and gave a ditzy wave, which caused her cool exterior to slip momentarily and give way to her nerves, but only to Troy, who knew that her ditz act only surfaced during high anxiety situations. Jack walked into the room and politely said hello to the recently arrived guests.

"Coach Bolton!" Vance rumbled in his masculine voice. He reached forward and embraced him in an extremely firm handshake.

"Vance Evans." Jack somewhat reciprocated Vance's tone, though with less eccentricity.

While the men greeted one another, Darby and Sharpay both smiled eagerly at Lucille, and, subconciously, Lucille reached down and patted her knee length black skirt, staring at the Evans women's outfits. While Lucille had though the dinner would call for semi nice clothing, and had insisted that both her boys at least wear collared shirts for the occasion, she had assumed the dress would be semi-formal at best, where as the entire Evans family looked like they would fit in better at the Golden Globes.

Sharpay's dress was truly something Aphrodite herself might have worn, a metallic gold thigh length number that hugged her curves in just the right places. Her blonde hair had been loosely pinned up, honey colored waves still fountaining down from all angles.

Darby hadn't chosen a dress quite worthy of Greek goddesses, but still looked lovely nonetheless. She wore a classic cut turqouise dress that ended just a few inches before her knees, paired with a pair of patened white heels, presumedly of some designer, though Lucille wasn't able to recognize just from a glance.

Vance Evans wore black dress slacks, as well as a tie, outshining Jack who had merely resorted to tucking his shirt into dark wash jeans.

The most casual of the Evanses was Ryan, who stood quietly beside his sister, in nothing more than khacky pants and a pale blue button down.

Troy made his way over to Sharpay and snuck a hand around her waist, leaning in and kissing her neck softly.

"Did you tell your parents yet?" She asked him in a hushed tone.

Evidently, though, she was not quiet enough because immediately Lucy and Jack both fell silent and eyed Troy expectantly.

Troy swallowed, "We should probably all sit down before we dive into any major discussions." He suggested.

"Right, right!" Lucy agreed, guiding everyone into the kitchen where they found their seats at the table.

Glancing back at her upscale guests, Lucille wished she were a talented enough chef to concoct something more impressive than the chicken cordon bleu and wedge salad she had prepared. Brushing the thoughts aside, she brought the dishes to the table, along with a plate of sliced french bread, the loaf having been bought frozen earlier that day at the grocery store.

"Everything looks delicious." Darby commented patronizingly, and Lucille managed a smile, trying to rid herself of any feelings of inadequacy as she sat down at the table.

After everyone was properly seated, served, and eating, Vance and Jack cleared their throats simontaneously. Both looked suprised and glanced at the other.

"Go ahead." Vance offered.

"I guess we can't avoid talking about why we're really here the entire night." Jack began.

"No we can't." Vance agreed.

"Oh! I've actually written down a list of things that should be taken care of, starting with an ultrasound this week." Lucille started.

Darby wrinkled her nose, "Couldn't that wait until after the wedding? I mean, I know technically it won't change anything, but you know what they say, 'When ignorance is bliss tis folly to be wise!'" she teetered and then continued, "I'd really rather not have there be any concrete evidence of a baby until that baby is under the bind of matrimony."

Lucille stared at Darby long and hard for a moment, trying to decipher if there was any logic behind the words Darby had strung along. Perhaps it was possible with her small frame that she had already gotten tipsy off of the half a glass of red wine she had drank.

After a moment she glanced over at her equally dumbfounded husband, back at Darby, and faltered, "I'm sorry... wedding?"

"Have you not told them?" Darby directed the question at Sharpay, as if she would have gotten a chance since last night to personally instill the Boltons with the knowledge of Vance's plans for her and Troy.

"By persuasion, Sharpay and I have come to realize that the most appropriate decision to make in this situation, is for us to get married." Troy tried his best to sound mature when he spoke to his parents, wanting to disprove their lecture earlier that day.

"Married?" Jack scoffed, "Troy, I know you hate me for being honest, but you are not ready for any of this."

"I think it's a very admirable decision Troy." Lucille assured, patting his hand, although her face gave way to nausea.

"I still think that Troy and Sharpay should seriously consider giving the baby up for adoption after its born." Jack spoke to both Vance and Darby.

"I don't want that." Sharpay said softly, staring down at her untouched plate.

"Put the issue to rest Jack, they've made their decision already." Lucy said, accompanied by the most discreet of under the table kicks.

Vance looked at the other coupled, but spoke anyways, "I, of course, want only the best for my daughter, and her _husband, _so I currently have my real estate agent hunting down a nice comfortable house for the two. I'll make sure they're more than duly provided for." He smiled warmly at Sharpay, the corners of his eyes twisting up in affection.

"Oh." Jack was genuinely surprised, "Well... That's very generous of you. I couldn't imagine what their living conditions would be like otherwise."

"I wouldn't allow my little princess in any unfavorable conditions. And, as an incentive for doing the right thing and marrying my daughter, I have a job for Troy in management down at my country club. The pay is good, and the hours are flexible, since you're going to need to take care of my little girl whenever she needs you." Vance finished.

Sharpay smiled widely at Troy and clapped her hands together in excitement.

"Really?" Jack glanced over at Troy.

"Thank you so much sir." Troy nodded his head up and down in hearty gratitude.

"Well, that certainly does put to rest my financial concerns for the kids." Jack muttered. Though still convinced Troy was not ready to become a father, he did look much more at ease.

"Yes, but there's still a lot left to do to prepare." Lucille interjected, "We really need to get Sharpay scheduled for her first ultrasound this week."

"And we have to set a date for the wedding." Darby added, "Even if it is just a fuddy duddy court ceremony."

"The two of you should start taking a parenting class as soon as possible." Lucille added.

"We'll need to plan a baby shower!" Darby exclaimed, "All though, perhaps you should wait to register until you know if you're having a girl or a boy so you can plan the color scheme for your nursery."

"Sharpay, I already went out and bought you some vitamins I think you should start taking, in case you forgot." Lucille said.

"There's this italian line of one of a kind cribs, truly top notch, but they're always on back order. I'll pull some strings and place an order now, and by the time the baby is born, it should be ready." Darby reached behind her for her handbag, digging for her blackberry as if she meant to make the call at that very moment.

Troy and Sharpay both glanced at each other, as both of the soon to be grandmothers vied for the upperhand in the planning. Sharpay heaved a sigh, her shoulders caving forward in her chair. Troy smiled and reached for her hand, squeezing it, before gently kissing her knuckles.

"Everything's going to be okay." Troy assured her.

Hearing this, Darby's head snapped up. She looked at the two teenagers, hands intertwined, and opened her mouth to speak.

"Sharpay! Don't slouch!"

* * *

**A/N: Wow, long chapter, no? Hopefully you all liked it. I'm working really hard to properly finish this thing off. **

**I hope nobody thinks this story is turning into too much of a fairytale happy ending to be realistic. I am starting to steer in the positive direction, but Sharpay IS rich. That makes a huge difference in the outcome of her teenage pregnancy. **

**Oh, and I was surprised at how many of you commented on how you were eager to see how the school and Gabriella reacted to the Troypay pregnancy. I thought I was moving them more past the whole high school drama and on to more serious issues, but I listened to you guys and decided to include a small confrontation scene between Sharpay and Gabriella. I had to keep Gabriella in character, but at the same time, even she has her moments, as we saw in HSM2 when she flipped a bitch on Sharpay beside the pool, so I thought she might have earned her rights to a little anger.**

**Thanks to all the wonderful reviewers. You guys rock. I'm really so happy with how much y'all have embraced this story, and I really hope you see me through to the end. So leave your comments, and give me something to look foward to. (It's probably really sad, but reviews on fanfiction are somewhere in my list of ten favorite things on the planet. Who knew I'd become such a junkie?) **

**Thanks to all reviewers a million times.**

**xoxo, A. **


	20. Chapter 20

"I can see it!" Troy exclaimed.

"Where?" Sharpay flipped her head up from where it rested on the exam table, straining to view something on the still black screen.

"I haven't even placed the transducer on you yet. Relax." The ultrasound technician instructed Sharpay. She then turned to shoot Troy a look as Sharpay leaned back again.

Lucille had taken it upon herself to schedule Sharpay's first ultrasound. Darby accompanied Troy and Sharpay to the clinic, however, since Lucille was working that afternoon. She too flipped her head around from where she had been facing Sharpay to look at the screen behind her, upon Troy's words. Finding nothing, she turned to shoot Troy a look similar to the one the technician had just given him.

"No, I meant I can see a bump." Troy corrected himself, "You're showing a little."

"Of course she is. She's pregnant." Darby rolled her eyes into her head with an exasperated smile, then reached over to pinch Troy's cheek, "It's a good thing he's cute, duckling."

"Well, you're about to see more proof than a bump. Sharpay, are you ready?" The technician hovered the wand over Sharpay's stomach, where she'd already applied a generous amount of clear gel.

"Yeah." Sharpay replied, gripping the hem of her shirt, gathered up around her chest.

"Okay." The woman moved the probe across her stomach, looking back towards the screen for the image, "And here we are."

"Aww." Darby sounded, as the black and white wave lengths formed a picture on the screen, "And what part is the baby?"

The technician pointed a laser to the image, moving it in a circular motion. Sharpay leaned up to view it as well.

"Right here." The woman continued to move the laser until Darby slowly nodded.

"It looks like a little peanut." She commented.

"Can you tell it's gender yet?" Troy asked, still staring at the fetus, squinting for a better outline.

"Not this early." The woman shook her head, "If you want to know the baby's gender before its birth, you'll probably be able to tell sometime in the third month of the pregnancy. Right now, she's about seven weeks along."

"Seven?" Sharpay shrieked, "I thought I was four weeks, five at the most."

The technician shook her head, then placed the probe on the table behind her.

"I'll leave you three alone for a moment, if you'd like." The woman stood, and walked out of the examination room, leaving the group alone with the image.

In all honesty, Sharpay really wanted to have the entire appointment over with, and go home already. But considering this was the first time she was seeing her child, so to speak, and with the knowledge that this was a moment most potential parents usually cherished, she nodded, and tried to look at the ultrasound with more sentimentality. Had the picture resembled an actual baby more, it might have stirred more emotions within her, but Darby was right, the baby truly did resemble a peanut.

"What do you think?" Troy asked her.

"Mmm hmm." She replied. It was a cop out answer, her not wanting to reveal her shameful indifference, but Troy didn't push.

"I think it's a boy." Troy stated proudly, eyeing the peanut again.

"I disagree." Darby interjected, "The women in my family very rarely produce boys."

"What about Ryan." Sharpay pointed out.

"He happened by chance, and even he's hardly more masculine than you are bunny." Darby smiled, "The two of you used to fight when you were children and you got into disagreements, and you usually won."

"Well, my dad has three brothers, and my mother's the only girl of three. Boys run in my family." Troy insisted, "Manly boys." He added a moment later after consideration.

"Well I'd like a girl." Darby smiled, "I wanted all girls when I was younger; four of them. But once I had Sharpay and Ryan, I realized how hard little girls were to handle. I think they were three years old when I knew there was no way I was having any more children."

"I don't care what it is." Sharpay decided, "It will be nine more months before we absolutely know anyways."

"Actually, it's closer to seven months now dear." Darby corrected her.

Sharpay's eyes widened in realization, and she let her head fall back on the examination table again with a loud _thud._

_

* * *

_

"How far along are you?"

"Huh?" Sharpay looked up at her middle aged history teacher, Mrs. Campbell, a feeling of sheer horror washing over her. She had received many a disapproving glare in the past month from the adults at East High, but never had a teacher directly referenced her pregnant state.

She stood at the teacher's desk, trying to turn in her quiz, and she glanced back at the classroom full of students in agony. She heard a few mean snickers, all female, though she was unable to distinguish where they originated from.

She looked back at the teacher, who smiled at her askance, as if Sharpay were pretending to not understand the secret code by which they were communicating.

"You are expecting?" The teacher confirmed.

"Oh. Yeah." Sharpay replied, barely above a whisper, "I'm due in like five months now, I think."

She placed her hands protectively over the now somewhat prominent bump that protruded from her otherwise slim figure, and turned on her heels, hurrying back to her desk.

"Slut!" A girl coughed from the back of the class.

Quiet snide chortles erupted from the commenter's side of the room, until Sharpay sent her infamous death glare in that direction, silencing them with fear. She turned around again, and slumped into her seat, grateful that high school would be forever done in just a couple of months.

* * *

That afternoon, once Sharpay was released from her classroom prison, she met Troy at her locker, a frown still set deep on her face.

"What's the matter?" Troy leaned in to kiss her cheek softly, "You look like crap."

Sharpay rolled her eyes, "Thanks." She replied sarcastically, "I really just want to get out of here."

"Okay, okay." Troy quickly took her bookbag from her, swinging it over his shoulder.

"Stop carrying this thing around." He ordered her, after the heavy weight of the bag swung back and hit his ribcage.

"I have to. I keep my books in it." Sharpay closed her locker, latching to Troy's side as the two began to walk down the stairs.

"You have to keep my baby in here." Troy reached over and patted Sharpay's stomach, "I'm a little more concerned about that."

"I'm concerned about graduating high school at the moment." Sharpay shot back, "I can't do that without my bookbag. End of story." Sharpay reached across Troy, towards the bag, in an effort to grab it back from him, but he swung it away reflexively and clucked his tongue at her in reprimand.

"I'll walk you to and from every class, with your books from now on. Problem solved." Troy insisted.

Sharpay rolled her eyes, but she smiled a little when she felt Troy's overprotective arm reach behind her fully, pulling her body even closer to his.

"So, we're looking at the house today?" Troy spoke, as they walked outside into the late spring air, both wincing from the sudden appearance of natural light.

"Yes, and just a heads up: I have a sneaking suspicion that Daddy's already bought it, so even if you don't like it when you see it, please don't say anything." Sharpay pleaded, tilting her head to see if this news seemed to have any effect on her boyfriend.

Troy shrugged, "I honestly don't care if it's a rusted trailer without any windows. As long as it has a place for the baby, and central plumbing, I'm content."

Troy opened the passenger side of his truck and Sharpay hopped in, slapping away his hand when he tried to assist her.

"I haven't seen it yet," She replied, "But I'm going to guess that it's probably not a windowless trailer."

Troy shrugged, "I'm just saying it doesn't make any difference to me. I'm more concerned about how the princess of Albuquerque is going to react."

"I'll be fine with whatever Daddy's found." Sharpay insisted. A coy smile twisted onto her face after a moment of silence, and she added, "Just as long as it has windows."

* * *

"This is the right address." Sharpay pointed to the house, as Troy pulled up to the curb, stopping in front of it to make sure, before turning into the driveway.

"What do you think?" She asked immediately, before he had even gotten a chance to stop the car.

"Holy shit Pay." Troy stared up at the house, "You didn't mention he was getting us a house in your country club's neighborhood!"

Sharpay scrunched up her face, "Didn't I? I kind of thought that was understood."

"I guess I just kind of pictured a "starter" house for a knocked up teenager and her boyfriend as not being in one of the ritziest neighborhoods in the city." Troy clarified, "But what do I know?"

"Troy, my dad owns the club. It's your job, and my inheritance. It makes sense that we would live in the neighborhood, right?" Sharpay rolled her eyes playfully, with a smile that imitated the one her mother wore when she felt her reasoning surpassed another's.

"Right." Troy bugged his eyes out of his head for a moment, taking in the house visually one more time before getting out of the truck. It was definitely not a windowless trailer, that was for sure.

No sooner had Troy placed his feet on the pavement of the driveway, than Vance Evans swung open the front door of the house, and walked outside to the front porch.

"What do you think, Princess?" He immediately asked, skipping over the hello's.

"I haven't even seen the inside yet Daddy!" Sharpay answered, "You're overwhelming Troy."

Troy put his hands up, "I'm not overwhelmed." He insisted, followed by a loud uneven sigh that contradicted his statement.

"I know, I know." Vance boomed, "But first impression: what do you think?"

"I love it!" Sharpay ran up the driveway towards the front porch, leaving Troy behind, and jumping into her father's arms with a girlish squeal.

Vance tightly hugged Sharpay, and then let her go, turning to address Troy, who still stood in the driveway, his arms hanging loosely at his sides, looking lost.

"Aren't you going to come inside?" he called to him.

"Come on Troy!" Sharpay jumped up and down giddily, and waved him over enthusiastically with her arms.

Troy nodded, still dumbfounded, and indeed overwhelmed, and walked up to meet Sharpay and her father.

* * *

"This has always been one of my favorites in the neighborhood. I've been reluctant to sell it for a long while, since its last owners moved out, in case one of my children decided to stay in Albuquerque. I must have turned down about thirty offers on it." Vance explained, leading them through the large, spacious living room.

"It has five bedrooms, so there's room to build a family." He continued.

Troy could feel his heart pounding. This was all moving so quickly. Sharpay, who had been hooked on his arm the entire time, took notice of this.

"One step at a time Daddy." She scolded softly.

"Of course." Vance complied, "I was just mentioning it, as an asset to the house."

Troy looked down gratefully at Sharpay, who kissed his arm, the closest thing near her lips, and smiled at him.

"The kitchen's this way." Vance guided them into the next impressive room, "The dining room is adjacent to it, and there's a room down the hall, that was originally meant to be a home office I believe, but you could use it as you see fit. And," Vance led them towards the door that led them out to the back patio, "There's a pool, which is nice, because you won't have to hang around all the other people at Lava Springs, if you'd rather have your privacy."

Sharpay nodded along, then turned to look at Troy.

"What do you think?" She asked him, her eyes widening hopefully.

"It's very nice." Troy said, still at a loss for words. This was so untypical for all the stories of teenage pregnancies he knew of, that he was still having a hard time believing he and Sharpay both might be moving into the house in a couple of months.

"Do you like it Princess?" Vance asked, eyeing his daughter apprehensively.

Sharpay bit her lip, and then nodded heartily, "I really love it."

"Great!" Vance thundered.

He rushed back to the island countertop in the center of the kitchen, and pulled open one of the drawers, withdrawing a document.

"It's the deed to the house sweetie." He held it up for Sharpay to admire, "As soon as the two of you tie the knot, I'll have it signed over in your name."

"That's very generous sir. I-" Troy was cut off as Sharpay wound her arms tightly around him, jumping up and down repeatedly, causing a mouthful of blonde tresses to gag him, and leave him unable to talk.

Troy did his best to hug her back, overcome with how rapidly it seemed everything was moving, and completely bewildered.

Suddenly, Sharpay had her lips smashed against his, and Troy felt his tension begin to melt at his eagerness to kiss her back. Doubt seemed to wash away as he was reminded that he did love Sharpay, and wanted to be with her, in this showy house if that's what made her happy. He wrapped his arms tighter around Sharpay, and brought her closer to him, feeling her swollen stomach pressed against him.

"Ahem!" Vance cleared his throat loudly, and Sharpay jumped, pulling her lips away from Troy's.

Having both of theirs attention, he then admonished harshly, "After the wedding!"

* * *

**A/N: ****So, I was logging out of my hotmail, where upon I was taken to the MSN homepage. And it just so happened that one of the headliners was that "Zanessa" is no more. I'd like to think that by now, I've matured enough to no longer care. But I will say it affected me enough to make me click to read the whole article, with a smile on my face...**

**I'm really, really sorry it's been so long since I've updated anything. I can't believe it's been since September when I last posted a chapter for this story! I've been really busy lately, but I'll try to be better about updating. (Only two more chapters to go on this fic!) I'm kind of eager to go ahead and flash forward and write the epilogue, but I'm covering all the necessary bases first. **

**I hope I still have readers out there. I'd really appreciate your reviews, and if you leave them, I promise I'll update much sooner this time.**

**Thanks for taking the time to read,**

**xoxo.**


	21. Chapter 21

It wasn't a dream wedding, by anybody's account.

Troy and Sharpay stood in the court room, their parents the only witnesses. Troy had turned eighteen the month previous, but Sharpay was still seventeen, a minor, and in need of her parents' signature. Troy's palms were sweating. This certainly was not how he had pictured getting married, and he knew for certain Sharpay's fantasies had to consist of something far more extravagant.

Sharpay was dressed up, somewhat, for the occasion, even with the circumstances. Her dress was indeed white, empire waisted, the skirt falling loosely down her now very prominent baby bump, and stopping a few inches above her knees. She was tiny, still, her large stomach greatly contrasting with her otherwise thin frame.

She had followed along with the wedding traditions, even refusing to go to the court room with Troy, certain their relationship would be doomed if he saw her beforehand. Her dress was something new, and she wore a pair of sapphire earrings as both her old and her blue. The baby, she had explained to Troy beforehand, was her something borrowed, considering, as she'd joked, he'd had to aflend her some of his best to make it, and it wouldn't stay inside of her forever.

She did look beautiful, and Troy held her hand tightly while signing the necessary papers in front of the judge, kissing her forehead a few times in between.

In a way, Troy felt as if he were signing away his childhood, for good. It was something that was approaching fast anyhow, unplanned pregnancy or not, but to suddenly have a wife, and soon a child, just as he had finished high school, presented him with the difficult challenge to grow up completely in a matter of months. He would not have those college years to find himself, nor would Sharpay. He had a family to take care of instead, a new never ending and unwavering responsibility.

But, amidst all of the chaos, the intertwining of the two worlds apart families, the stress, and the nerves, Troy was excited. When he placed his hands on Sharpay's full belly, and felt the life they had created kicking inside, he was filled with indescribable joy. He was eager to meet his child, their child, and anxiously awaited the soon to come day when the baby would be born.

"I love you." He whispered into her ear, as they were walking outside, away from the stuffy court room.

"Are you scared?" Was her response, looking up at him with worried eyes.

"Of what?" Troy asked, wrapping his arm around her waist, trying to make things as casual as possible, for her benefit at least.

"Of being married." Sharpay bit her bottom lip, "I understand it was sort of a high pressure situation for you."

Troy blew a long, steady stream of air out of his lips, "I love you Sharpay. We're having a baby. Am I scared to suddenly dive into all of this at eighteen? Yes. But I'm not... unhappy."

Sharpay felt a light tug at the corners of her mouth, "I'm not unhappy either."

"That's because I love you." Troy placed a kiss on the top of her head, and her smile grew fuller.

Their parents were walking behind them in pairs, first the Evanses, followed by the Boltons.

Jack Bolton still was not thrilled about many elements of the current situation: his son not pursuing both a college education and basketball career, the fact that he was marrying so young, which Jack was sure would result in broken hearts and bad blood a few years down the line, and of course the fact that he was choosing to raise a child when he was still one himself. But, he had accepted the circumstances for what they were. He was at least proud of Troy for doing what he thought was the right thing, and for handling the situation, honestly, with a much more level head and positive outlook than Jack himself imagined he would be able to were he in the same position.

Then, of course, there was the advantage that came with marrying into a family with such clout. Troy did have a job secured, not to mention a wonderful home in a desirable neighborhood. Without the financial strain, Troy and Sharpay would at least be able to focus on discovering the dynamics of parenthood, and adjusting to married life.

Lucille was feeling just a little giddy, despite her apprehensions, which were not that different from her husband's. She did not want her son to be giving her a grandchild when he was only eighteen, but she did want to be a grandmother, and couldn't help but feel excited at the thought of a new baby soon to be brought into the family.

Vance and Darby had treated the entire matter very business-like. Teenage daughter comes home pregnant, you combat it by marrying her off and sitting her up nicely in a suburban home. The wedding was Troy and Sharpay's absolution. In all truth, Vance and Darby were relieved that it was over. Vance had arranged for the two teenagers to move into their new home that night. He had kept it a wedding gift, true to his word.

For the past couple weeks, Vance had hired moving trucks back and forth, transporting Troy and Sharpay's old things into the house, alongside all of the new furniture Sharpay, Darby, and even Lucille had been shopping for over the months prior, in an attempt to build a nice home ready for a child to live in.

"Are you excited for the honeymoon?" Sharpay whispered to Troy as they approached their car, leaning in and trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible.

"Ahem!" Vance cleared his throat loudly and stepped forward, "I suppose it's time we let the two of you head home, and adjust to the new house. Unless you'd rather us come back with you for a little while?"

He sounded hopeful, and for the first time a sad sort of nostalgia was visible in his misty eyes. Sharpay was his only little girl. As efficient and objective towards the situation as he had tried to be since she had first announced her big news several months ago, he did not want to see her growing up and leaving his home.

Sharpay smiled softly and shook her head, "I think we can hold things down on our own."

"Okay..." Vance nodded, and then quickly wrapped his arms around his daughter in a tight embrace, letting her go a moment later.

"Call me tomorrow pumpkin. The crib should be arriving tomorrow." Darby smiled, and blew a kiss, and then looked up at her husband, giving him a nod signaling their exit.

Jack and Lucille stood awkwardly, staring at the two, while Vance and Darby took a few steps back, prepared to leave, but only after Troy and Sharpay had driven away.

Lucille was overtook by a sudden burst of movement, and rushed forth, wrapping one arm around each teen.

"Oh, you shouldn't be put through all of this so young." She muttered to them, sounding slightly annoyed in an almost comical way.

She stepped back and ran her hand through her son's hair, placing a kiss on his forehead, "Not just her, okay? I want a call tomorrow too, even if I don't have some designer crib arriving from overseas."

Sharpay and Troy both nodded, and Lucille returned back to Jack's side, looking back expectantly at her son and his new wife, as wierd as it was to think of them that way.

Troy shifted, and then finally reached for the keys in his pocket, fumbling a moment with the car door before opening it and slowly climbing in. Sharpay followed, breathing a sigh of relief when the car door was shut, closing her out of the heavy tension outside.

"Well, wifey, I guess we're heading home." Troy smiled, and turned the key in the ignition.

"Home..." Sharpay couldn't help but think of the one her parents owned, and she sighed softly, looking out the window.

* * *

Troy gathered her hair gently in his hands and moved it over her shoulder, kissing the nape of her neck. Sharpay shivered, and angled her head to the side so she could see him. Troy traced her lips with his finger a few times, and then leaned in to kiss her.

"I always wanted a honeymoon in Greece." She mumbled against his lips.

Troy leaned back, resting against the pillows on their new, and freshly made bed, "What?"

Sharpay blushed, "I'm sorry. I guess that was pointless to bring up now. But I just thought of it. Cyprus, where the goddess of love rose from the sea."

Troy glanced down at the bedspread guiltily.

"I'm sorry Sharpay." He swallowed, "You deserve that. This isn't what your wedding day should be like. You shouldn't be eight months pregnant, signing papers in a cityhall with some guy who's got you backed into a corner, because he knocked you up. You should be on some incredibly romantic honeymoon, instead of being stuck here and unable to travel because no one knows when you might go into labor."

"Hey." Sharpay crawled over to him, and managed to nestle herself into his lap, despite the difficulty her big baby belly posed, "I'm just talking. I don't care, really. I know I seem like the type that would, but I really don't need a big wedding or a fancy honeymoon. When I was younger, and I fantasized about my dream wedding, I always imagined you as the groom. At the time I was just being silly because you didn't even like me, but now I think the groom was the most important part. I just want to be in love with whomever I marry, and I love you Troy."

Troy kissed her, placing one hand firmly on her belly, feeling the baby begin to kick like mad. Sharpay groaned softly at the increased movement inside of her, but placed her hand over Troy's, feeling it from the outside with him.

"That's pretty amazing, huh?" Troy mused, staring down at her stomach, and then up at her, "We created that. A life."

"Yeah." Sharpay breathed, leaning in again to kiss Troy.

"I'm thinking it really is time for the ceremonious honeymoon." She whispered, tracing her finger along his chest through his t-shirt.

"Right. I can now deflower my virgin bride." Troy joked, already a step ahead of her, grasping the zipper of her dress.

"Shut up." She mumbled, lifting his shirt over his head, before he was able to unzip her.

He returned his hands to her quickly, and this time had her dress down before she was able to move again. She giggled as they both struggled to undress her fully, him having difficulty pulling the dress over her stomach, and her finding it challenging to move much to help him with it.

With group effort, they finally succeeded in stripping her to her underwear, and Sharpay felt herself blushing a little self-cautiously, the way she had often during the beginnings of their love making over the most recent months. Pregnancy certainly made her feel less sexy than she used to. It wasn't just her fat complex, which Troy tried his best to rid her of daily. Her breasts were sore and swollen, and the bras she was now reduced to in this late of a maternity stage were nothing like the lacy lingerie she wore before.

She was now stuck in something plain and black, and she ran her hands over it in dissapointment. This was her wedding night. She should have been in something ultra sexy, at her regular size so that she could move around and be lithe, rather than laying on her back, knowing it would take effort just for her to roll over.

"You're so beautiful." Troy seemed to know exactly what was running through her mind, and he knelt over her, kissing her collarbone, "Always."

Sharpay smiled, and tried to reach for the button on Troy's pants, but he read her mind and quickly removed them on his own.

He reached down then, and unclasped her bra, kissing the top of her breast, and gently kneading one, trying to be mindful of its tenderness.

Sharpay hissed slightly when one of his squeezes was too hard, but he took one of her nipples inside of his mouth in that moment, running his tongue across it in circular motions, and she silenced, deciding the pleasure overrode the pain.

He trailed his kisses down her stomach, pausing to listen to it, while he rubbed her gently through her underwear, elicting small moans above him. Troy pulled her panties off of her, finding them easier to remove, her legs still the same size.

Finally, Troy wiggled out of his own boxers, and then moved to sit in the center of the bed, pulling her over with him, and onto his lap again. During each stage of the pregnancy, Troy and Sharpay had developed new positions, ones that made sex easier on both of them. During the last trimester, missionary had become far too uncomfortable for her.

He lifted Sharpay up, gripping her bottom and squeezing it before sinking her down onto his shaft. This had become their quick go-to position, neither of the two being crushed when they were both sitting up. She let out a long groan of satisfaction as they both began to move, and leaned in to press her forehead against his.

They grinded together for some time, both exerting moans and grunts until he felt her release and allowed himself to follow.

For a moment, they remained still, holding each other, and waiting for their heartbeats to return to normal.

"Uh... Sharpay?" Troy seperated her sweaty body from his, glancing down at the bed.

"Yeah?"

"Did you just pee?" Troy's voice shook.

"What?" Sharpay looked appalled, "Ew, Troy, no!"

"I think your water just broke." He stated it as calm as he could, knowing she was likely to panic and that one of them needed to remain rational.

Sharpay flipped her head down, staring at the small pool on the bed, "It's too soon!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, the doctor said it was likely to happen with your small frame. And sex is a trigger." Troy stood, grabbing his clothes and beginning to put them on, quickly but placidly, again for Sharpay's sake.

"You get dressed. I'm going to call your mother, and let her know. Meet me downstairs and I'll take you to the hospital." Troy instructed.

"I can't do this!" Sharpay looked up at him with fear and desperation, "I can't Troy. I can't be a mother. I can't have a baby. I can't push it out of my vagina!"

She began to hyperventalate, and Troy quickly dug out a pair of sweats from one of their many still unpacked boxes, helping her into them while he tried to soothe her.

"It's a little late to change your mind, Sharpay." He reminded her, helping to pull her to her feet, "The baby's coming, but they're going to give you a lot of painkillers that will make everything okay. But we've got to hurry so we get there in time for them, okay?"

Sharpay shook her head vehemently, even as Troy led her by the hand out of the bedroom.

"Do you feel any pains?" He asked, helping her down the stairs carefully.

Sharpay looked puzzled by this, and she glanced down at her stomach, "Actually... no."

"Okay. See? This is going to be easier than you thought." Troy comforted.

It seemed to work, and Sharpay nodded, smiling softly.

* * *

She made it about half way to the hospital before the contractions began to arrive. From there she was a holy terror.

She was now in the hospital room, wearing a backless gown, and in the most degrading public position Troy had ever seen her in. Her legs were spread wide and elevated, while a doctor peered up inside of her, and she screamed out profanities to Troy.

"This is your fault!" She insisted, while she rode out another contraction, breathing heavily between words, "You did this to me, and no one's making you force an eight pound brick through your penis!"

Troy gripped her hand tightly while she accused him of being a bastard for the fifth time since arriving at the hospital, and repeatedly reminded himself that this was the girl he loved.

Her contractions stopped once again, and she glanced up at him, hair matted to her sweaty forehead, "I'm sorry!"

Troy couldn't help but chuckle, but then caught his breath as she began to pant again.

"They seem to be coming quicker." He pointed out to the doctor.

"Yes." He looked up at Troy, "She's actually diolated about nine centimeters. The baby should be coming pretty soon. Lucky for her; she shouldn't have to be in labor too long."

"That's good news Pay." Troy kissed her hand.

"You asshole!" She screamed back, following with a loud grunt.

"Troy?" She asked a moment later, her head against her pillow while she regained her breath.

Troy clenched his teeth, "Yes, Sharpay?"

"A baby's head isn't that much bigger than nine centimeters, right?" The urgency in her voice could not be masked, and Troy decided in this case honesty may not be the best policy.

"Yeah..." He answered after a pause, "Something like that."

The doctor looked up, "Actually, a newborn's head is typically about fourteen inches in circumference. But don't worry Sharpay, you can do this. Plenty have gone before you and survived."

Sharpay's eyes widened and she looked up at Troy in horror as her breath grew labored yet again.

* * *

Sharpay's head fell back against the bed in exhaustion, her entire body dripping in sweat. Troy still held her hand tightly, and he kissed her forehead several times.

"You did great." He murmured, her countless insults to him all but forgotten.

Sharpay could not reply with words, but let a noise escape from her lips in response, turning her head on the pillow to look at Troy. He kissed her again, wrapping an arm around her, and pulling her fatigued body towards his.

"Do you want to meet your son?" The nurse stepped forward, a screaming infant bundled tightly in her arms.

Sharpay looked up in shock and nodded, reaching out her arms to receive the bundle.

"Oh." Sharpay let out a gasp of surprise, suddenly staring into the face of the person who had been dwelling inside of her for so long.

"Wow." Troy breathed, "He's beautiful."

Sharpay nodded dumbly, still in too much shock to speak. She continued to stare down at the creature, unable to fully register the idea that she and Troy had made it on their own.

Finally, she pulled the baby towards her chest, clutching it as close as possible, and informing Troy in a definite voice, "I love him."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait on this story. But it's here, finally. **

**A lot happened in this chapter. But I felt it was time to really make some progress. I have now been working on this fic for a full year. I've been saying I'm going to end this thing for the past ten chapters, and have yet to be able to draw this to a close. But now we're almost there. **

**Reviews equal updates. Longer reviews and more of them equal faster updates. (And much faster than this one, I promise!)**

**xoxo.**


	22. Chapter 22

_"I love her and that's the beginning of everything."_

_-F. Scott Fitzgerald_

* * *

"Mommy!"

Sharpay groaned, and squinted her eyes shut, burrying her head into the couch pillow, trying her best to look asleep.

"Mommy!"

The shouts were getting closer, and she knew her five minutes of peace were up.

"Mommy!" A little boy shouted in glee, bounding on to the couch, and landing roughly on top of her.

Sharpay yelped in pain, sitting up fully and pushing her son off of her.

"Noah, I told you. Please don't jump on Mommy."

"Sorry." The little boy smiled, and then crawled up to her face, wrapping his arms tightly around her neck.

"Daddy told me to come find you and ask you to make me lunch, but not to tell you he told me to." He whispered, in total confidentiality, "In a minute he's going to come in here and pretend to be upset with me, and I'm supposed to play along."

"Oh really?" Sharpay cocked an eyebrow, looking up as the sound of footsteps neared the living room.

Troy stepped into the room, and Sharpay had to stifle a laugh right away at the mock expression of shock and dissapointment on his face.

"Noah! I told you to leave your mother alone and let her rest."

Noah giggled, and burried his face in Sharpay's neck, hugging her tighter.

Sharpay smiled dubiously at her husband, shaking her head dissaprovingly, "I'm wondering why you were so insistent I go relax if you were just going to send him running in after me five minutes later."

"Wait, what?" Troy glanced over at his four year old son, "You told her?"

"This boy tells me everything." Sharpay ran a hand through Noah's sandy colored hair approvingly, "He always lets me know when his Daddy's misbehaving."

"You're such a mama's boy." Troy informed his son, stepping towards the two.

He leaned forward, kissing Sharpay's forehead, "I do want you to relax. I just need him off my hands for a moment while I try to get the baby to go asleep, and then I'll take him outside and we'll leave you alone."

"That's all right." Sharpay stood up, "I didn't really want to be alone anyway. I'll make the kid lunch."

She opened out her arms, picking her son up, and turning towards the kitchen.

"That kid's getting too big for you to pick him up." Troy warned, but Sharpay ignored him, walking into the kitchen and leaving him behind.

A few minutes later, Sharpay set a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich down on the living room coffee table, sighing at the persistent wails coming from upstairs.

"I'm going to rescue your sister from Daddy, and when I come back down I'll peel you an orange." She said to Noah, who plopped down on his knees in front of the table, grabbing a sandwhich half and biting into it.

Sharpay hurried upstairs, stepping into the nursery to find Troy helplessly bouncing a screaming baby in one arm, and waving a stuffed lamb in its face with his other hand.

"What are you doing to my daughter, Bolton?" Sharpay stepped forward, extending her arms and taking the crying infant from his hands.

"She won't go to sleep." He rubbed the back of his neck, "Remember how quiet Noah was as a baby, and I told you, if we had another child we'd pay for it then."

"Yes, I remember." Sharpay sighed as she balanced the baby on her hip, "But maybe if her Daddy learned to recognize when it was appropriate to shove a stuffed animal in her face, and when she just had gas, she might not be so fussy. Hand me the burping cloth."

Troy made a face as he reached over and grabbed the cloth, draping it across Sharpay's shoulder for her while she gently patted the crying baby's back.

"Maybe you should have been in charge of putting Sierra down for her nap while I made Noah lunch." Troy winced, desperate for the cries to stop soon.

"You have to spend some time with this kid too. Babies cry. Get used to-"

Suddenly her daughter interrupted her with a large coughing sound, and Sharpay cut herself off mid-sentence with a deafening scream.

"It went in my hair!" She shrieked, referring to the newly produced vomit now covering her as well as the cloth hung over her shoulder.

Troy couldn't resist sounding out a loud laugh, before he hurried into the adjoined bathroom, retrieving a towel and coming back to help clean Sharpay up.

"Babies puke. Get used to it." He mocked her, wiping the towel through hair that now definitely needed a wash.

Sharpay replied with a firm smack on the shoulder.

"Well, at least Sierra's quiet now." She reasoned, carrying the baby back to her crib and setting her down gently inside, "Hopefully she'll go to sleep."

She stepped back towards Troy, and causually angled her head up for a kiss, shocked when he avoided her lips by dramatically turning his head to the side.

"Don't come over here smelling like puke and try to get a kiss from me!" He exclaimed, "You need a shower!"

Sharpay stepped back, "Whatever happened to loving me unconditionally?" She grumbled.

"Let me join you in the shower and I'll show you how I love you unconditionally." Troy bargained, wrapping his arms low around her waist.

"Oh no." Sharpay pushed him away, "You just lost any chances of afternoon shower sex. Go downstairs and watch your son, while I go clean up."

"Fine." Troy sighed, "But you owe me."

* * *

Troy sucked gently on Sharpay's neck, his arms wrapped tightly around her. Noah was in bed, the baby was currently asleep, and the two finally had some time alone together.

He moved his mouth up to her lips, kissing her a few times, and running his fingers through her hair. He had just slipped his hands underneath her nightgown when the sound of small feet came running down the hall.

"Mommy?"

Troy sighed heavily, retracting his hands and collapsing back on the bed.

Sharpay gave him a sympathetic smile and then stood up, opening the door to their bedroom to find Noah standing outside of it.

"I think there's someone in my room. I heard a banging noise in the closet." He reached his arms up, and Sharpay picked him up, ignoring Troy when he grunted in protest.

"Well we'll have Daddy go take a look and make sure everything's okay." She said, sitting back on the bed with Noah.

Troy followed his command, standing up off the bed, "Okay. I'll be right back."

He reluctantly walked down the hall to his son's room, stepping inside. He sat down on the bed, knowing he would have to wait a few minutes before returning to his own bedroom, in order to convince Noah he'd conducted a thorough investigation. He wished he could just have some time alone with his wife, but in a household with a child under five and a baby, interruptions were often, and could be expected at any time, day or night.

After enough time had passed, he walked back down the hall, opening the door to find Sharpay sitting up in bed, Noah snuggled tightly against her while she stroked his hair.

"All right buddy. I searched everywhere and there's nothing in your room. You're safe to sleep there."

"What about the noise in the closet?" Noah asked.

"Something must have fallen off a shelf." Troy explained, "Come on, I'll get you tucked in again."

Sharpay placed a large kiss on the top of Noah's head before allowing him to jump off the bed and follow Troy out of the room.

Troy returned a few minutes later, finding Sharpay already under the covers, her eyes closed.

"Hey." He nudged her.

"Mhm?" She murmured, opening her eyes to look up at him.

He walked around to the other side of the bed, laying down beside her, and nuzzling her neck, "How about we get back to what we were doing before we were interrupted?"

Sharpay rolled over on her side to face him.

"I'm really tired." She said, giving him one peck on the lips, and then shutting her eyes again.

Troy sat up halfway, straining to see the time on their alarm clock, "It's nine thirty."

"Mhm, I know. But remember, I promised we'd go to church with your parents tomorrow, and you know they go to the early service." She yawned loudly, "How about we get a good night's sleep tonight and I'll do anything you want tomorrow night when the kids are with them."

Troy reached over to turn off the lamp on his nightstand.

"Fine." He grumbled, situating himself under the covers, the pout on his face unknown to her in the dark.

She snuggled in closer to his body, resting her head on his chest with a content sigh.

"I love you." She said, a nightly ritual before she fell asleep.

Troy forgot his dissapointment in the natural instinct to kiss the top of her head, and respond, "I love you too."

* * *

"Troy! Wake up!"

A pillow whack to the face finally forced him to open his eyes, to find his wife standing over him, hair wet and dressed in a white towel.

"Do you know how incredibly frusterating it is when you ignore me, and refuse to get out of bed in the morning! I've been trying to take care of the kids for the past hour, and I need to get myself ready." She placed another smack on his shoulder, this time with the palm of her hand, "Get up!"

"Okay, okay!" Troy sat up, still feeling groggy.

"Go get Noah and get him dressed. I already have Sierra ready, but she needs to be fed." After she finished giving orders, she stared blankly at him for a moment, while he remained still, trying to interpret her look.

"Move already!" She exclaimed, "It's already eight! We need to be out of here in half an hour and I'm not even made up yet!"

"Well you always look beautiful to me." Troy said with a yawn.

Sharpay rushed to the dresser, yanking a hair dryer out with force, and with a roll of her eyes she responded sharply, "Shut the fuck up."

* * *

"Grandma!"

"Hi sweetheart!"

Noah ran down the aisle to Lucille, who had her arms outstretched in anticipation of her grandson. He jumped into her arms and wrapped his his arms tightly around her neck.

Jack stood beside his wife, and ruffled Noah's hair, while Troy and Sharpay walked down the aisle to catch up with their son.

"And there's my precious little girl!" Lucille cooed as Sharpay reached her, Sierra balanced on her hip.

She set Noah back down on the ground, and ran her hair through the baby's fine blonde curls, "She gets prettier everytime I see her. Beautiful brown eyes just like her mother."

Sharpay smiled warmly, bouncing her daughter a few times.

"She's a pain in the ass just like her mother too." Troy commented, earning himself a scowl from both Sharpay and Lucille, while Jack chuckled.

"She is a little fussy." Sharpay admitted, a statement that seemed impossible at the moment to describe the smiling baby, "I doubt she'll sit through the whole service."

The church organ sounded at that moment, and everyone quickly ended small talk around them, finding a seat. The Bolton family found one pew together, and all sat down.

After he was seated next to Sharpay, Troy reached over to his infant daughter, seated on her mother's lap, twirling a curl around his finger.

"We should have sat closer to the back." He informed Sharpay, "It's going to be so embarrasing when you have to walk through the whole church with a screaming child."

Sharpay smirked, "I won't be walking out with her. You will."

* * *

After the service, Troy walked outside with his parents, while Sharpay escorted her children to the car. She balanced Sierra on her hip, supporting her with one arm, while she held Noah's hand with the other.

Noah danced around at his mother's feet while she buckled the baby into her carseat.

"I have to go to the bathroom!" He announced, urgently pulling at the hem of Sharpay's dress.

"What?" Sharpay turned around, irritated, "Why didn't you tell me when we were inside?"

"I thought I could hold it. But I can't." Noah shifted anxiously, and Sharpay rolled her eyes, reaching down to unbuckle Sierra again.

"Come on." She reached for Noah's hand, huffing as she had to lug the two back uphill to the church building, passing Troy and his parents on the way.

"Where's she going?" Jack asked his son, gesturing towards Sharpay and the kids.

Troy shrugged, "Maybe she forgot something inside."

"Hm." Lucille's thoughts seemed occupied elsewhere. As soon as Troy and Jack both redirected their attention from Sharpay to one another again, she smiled, reaching a hand out to Troy and placing it on his forearm.

"So, tonight's the night?" With her other hand she crossed her fingers, holding them up for Troy to see.

Jack rolled his eyes gently, "You may or may not realize this Lucy, but Sharpay already married Troy several years ago. He's at no risk of getting rejected now."

Lucille pouted, glaring at her husband, "I'm just trying to get excited about my only son proposing to someone. He's never done that before."

"Maybe not the traditional way, but he had to ask her to marry him in some form the first time. That's a proposal." Jack argued.

"Actually, Sharpay's Dad sort of proposed to me." Troy clarified.

Lucille giggled, and Jack smiled too, reaching an arm around his wife, and pointing to Troy's jacket, "So lets see the ring."

Troy grinned, reaching into his coat and withdrawing a velvet box, "What do you think?" He opened it, revealing a simple but elegant white gold ring, one large sparkling cut diamond sitting in the middle.

"Oh, Troy, it's gorgeous." Lucille breathed, "She'll love it."

"I hope so." Troy snapped the box closed, sliding it back into the inner pocket of his jacket, "I sure love her."

* * *

"Oh my goodness!" Sharpay yanked at her hair, while Lucille spun around in circles, rythmically bouncing the screaming baby, "Sierra please, dear God, calm down baby!"

She screwed the lid on tight to the bottle she had been preparing, then extended her arms to take her unappeasable daughter from Lucille. She somewhat forced the bottle into her mouth, before the baby realized it was there, and stopped howling in order to suck the desired milk out.

Sharpay heaved a sigh of relief, along with Jack, who had been seated in the kitchen witnessing the two women attempt to find a cure for the baby's sobbing.

"She's a terror." Sharpay said to Jack, who smiled softly, nodding in agreement.

"Oh no she's not." Lucille took Sierra back from Sharpay, taking over the task of feeding her, "She's precious. She was just hungry."

Troy, who had been sitting in the living room with Noah, appeared in the kitchen doorway, "She _is _a terror. She's the reincarnation of Sharpay. She looks just like her when she was a baby. Seven months old and she's already pitching fits every time she doesn't get her way. I'm very scared for the future."

Sharpay crossed her arms, glowering at Troy, "I'll have you know I was a perfectly well behaved child. I can't remember being punished one time growing up."

Troy laughed, "I'll bet not. That would explain a lot."

"Oh Troy. Stop picking on her." Lucille came to Sharpay's defense, "We'll love Sierra even if she is a spoiled little brat like her mother."

Sharpay stomped her foot while her in-laws shared a laugh at her defense, biting back a smile while she tried to keep the pout on her face in tact.

"I'm going to go check on Noah." She said, trying to look insulted as she walked out of the room.

Troy smiled as he watched her leave, and then walked over to the table where his dad was seated, sitting down in a chair beside him. He slipped the ring box out of his jacket again, flipping it open and closed several times, and humming softly to himself.

"I have to say, I never thought you'd be here." Jack spoke up.

"What do you mean?" Troy asked absently, admiring the ring as it caught the natural sunlight streaming in through the window behind them.

"I never thought you'd be marrying Sharpay Evans." He answered, "Really, never. How old were you that year I chaperoned that field trip to those government buildings. Fourth grade?"

"I think third." Troy corrected him.

"That was the first time I met her. She was so mouthy." Jack recalled with a grimace, "Mother of my grandchildren. Who would have guessed?"

Troy chuckled, "Well, she's still mouthy."

"I didn't think you two would still be together now." Jack continued, restating a belief he had often voiced in the past, "But, here you are. You have two beautiful children, and I'm proud of you."

Troy stared down at his feet, smilling sheepishly, "Thanks."

"And even if I didn't think it would work out, I'm happy you and Sharpay are together." He concluded, clearing his throat afterwards, feeling slightly awkward.

"I am too." Troy replied with a nod.

Lucille, who was still standing in the kitchen listening to her boys talk, beamed at the two, before looking down to coo at the baby in her arms.

* * *

"No kids!" Sharpay exclaimed, walking through the door of the house, "My home is quiet!"

"It doesn't feel right, does it?" Troy responded, walking in behind her.

Sharpay smirked, turning around and grabbing Troy by the collar of his shirt, angling her head up and giving him a kiss, "Not having any kids around gives us time to make another one."

"That sounds good, minus the kid." Troy replied, his hands traveling down her sides and resting on her hips, "Let's just focus on accidental baby number two for a while, okay?"

"Okay." Sharpay kissed him again, "I've been taking my pill anyway."

"Good." Troy kissed her one more time, this time on her forehead, before pushing her away, "I'm going to cook you dinner tonight."

"No dinner. Just sex." Sharpay giggled and leaned in again, kissing him with a little more vigor.

"I really want to make you dinner first." Troy insisted, pushing her off him again. In his mind he had envisioned the perfect second "proposal" involving the two eating by candlelight at home together, right down to the moment where he got down on one knee.

"I'm not hungry." Sharpay didn't give in, this time trying to remove his jacket while Troy struggled, backing away from her.

"Why are you being so grumpy?" She teased, reaching inside the jacket and underneath his shirt, running her hands up and down his abs while she kissed his neck.

"What's this?" She felt the bulge of the jewlery box inside of the coat, and Troy desperately tried to wrestle her away as she slipped her hand into the pocket and withdrew it.

"Give that back!" Troy reached forward, snatching the box out of his surprised wife's hand, huffing in anger, "You're ruining everything."

"What?" She asked quietly, her eyes still on the velvet box, "Excuse me for kissing my husband... What's that for?"

"It's for you." Troy grumbled, "But now you've messed everything up. I wanted to do it right this time."

"Do what right?" Sharpay swallowed, partially being pulled in by the potential romantic gesture that he could be offering her with what was in the box, and at the same time hurt that he seemed to be inexplicably upset with her suddenly.

Troy sighed and flipped the box open, unveiling the ring, "Ask you to marry me."

"I'm already married to you." She stated the obvious, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"I know. But you never got to have a wedding Sharpay. I've been planning it for a couple of months with your parents and mine. We'll have a ceremony this time just like an actual wedding, and we can renew our vows. Well I guess technically we didn't write vows the first time, but we can now." Troy smiled in the excitement that came with finally being able to reveal the secret he had been keeping from her for so long, and in that he forgot his dissapointment in not being able to give a proper proposal second time around.

"Then we're going on a honeymoon. Remember how you told me the night Noah was born, how you wanted to go to Greece?" Troy smiled, waiting for her response, beginning to feel nervous when she remained silent.

"That's so sweet." Sharpay finally said, stepping forward and pressing her body against his, kissing him deeply.

Troy grinned and breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"Here," He took the ring out of the box, "Let me put it on you."

"No." Sharpay pulled her left hand away, and Troy lowered his own hand, looking crestfallen.

"You don't like the idea? That's okay." Troy nodded vehemently, "Really. A second wedding is kind of dumb anyway. I just thought you might actually like to have a chance to do the whole bride thing, get a big dress, you know... Whatever. It's totally cool if you don't. I can cancel the whole thing. It's no big deal."

Sharpay smiled softly, "No, Troy, that's all great. I can't wait to do everything you just said, it's just I don't want to take my ring off."

"Your ring?" Troy glanced down at her hand at the ring she wore as a symbol of marriage. At the time he purchased it for her he had deemed it as "temporary," something to hold her over until something better was affordable.

"Sharpay, this is a much better ring. It's eight karats. That one you're wearing cost like a fifth of what this did." Troy held up the ring again for her to examine.

"I don't care." Sharpay placed her right hand protectively over her left, "I don't want to take my wedding ring off."

Troy looked dumbfounded, staring at the ring he had been so eager to present her with, "But... I've been saving up for this forever."

"So?" Sharpay kissed him again, "Take it back. Spend the money on the kids. I love my ring because I love you, and if I got rid of it I'd feel like I was throwing away all of our marriage up until now."

"Oh. Okay." Troy gingerly slipped the ring back into the box, and then placing it back inside his jacket, "But you do really like the idea of a second wedding right?"

"Absolutely." Sharpay wrapped her arms around his neck, standing on her tip-toes so that their noses touched, "I love you."

Troy breathed in her scent, wrapping his arms around her in turn, and nuzzling her neck affectionately, "I love you too Shar. I love you so much."

* * *

_"I'll see you tomorrow."_

_Troy nodded as Gabriella blew him a tiny kiss, turning to exit the auditorium. He watched her as she went, running up the side stairs that led to the outdoor exit, and pushing through the large wooden doors, which closed quickly behind her. _

_He sighed, feeling frusterated. She had hardly allowed him to get to second base during the course of their realationship of nearly a year, always leaving him to take care of his needs by himself. _

_"Ryan!" _

_The sharp voice broke his thoughts of self pity and aggrevation, and he directed his attention on stage to Ryan and Sharpay Evans. The theater siblings were the only two left in the auditorium other than him._

_"Gather up the costumes I piled in the corner over there and go put them in the trunk of the car. I'll be out in a few." Sharpay instructed her brother, who nodded, only rolling his eyes after he had turned his back on her. _

_The back curtain had been pulled open, revealing backstage, and he watched as she walked back and forth, gathering her things while she sang softly to herself, developing a small dance within her walk to the tune of her song. _

_He watched her hips as she gently shook them, and felt a sudden and unexpected surge of want gush through him, propelling him forward, as he suddenly found himself walking down the aisle of the auditorium, and up the stairs to the stage._

_"Hey Sharpay." He slid her a boyish grin as she jumped slightly, and turned around to face him._

_"Oh. Hey Troy." She returned the smile, and he could have sworn she was actually batting her eyelashes at him for a moment, "I didn't realize you were still in here."_

_"Yeah. Tough rehearsal today, huh?" He tried his best at conversation that would interest her, theater being the only thing that came to mind._

_"Tell me about it. Of course if Gabriella actually learned to sing instead of trying to imitate a braying donkey, things might have gone a little smoother." Sharpay shrugged, and flounced over to a folding table temporarily set up to hold small stage props, grabbing her bag off of it. _

_Troy let the comment about his girlfriend roll of his back, knowing it would be useless to point out that Mrs. Darbus may have just as likely been upset that the upcoming show was only a week away, and Sharpay still couldn't seem to grasp the art of dancing with a partner. _

_Troy's eyes raked over Sharpay's body a few times, for a moment forgetting to keep her stimulated with conversation he didn't care about. _

_Sharpay noticed this, and gently leaned back against the table, smirking slyly at him, "Can I help you with anything?" _

_Troy swallowed and took a step towards her, "Maybe." _

_Her eyes danced wildly about as she watched him move closer and closer to her, waiting for what came next. _

_He finally stopped mere inches away from her, and gently brushed a few stray hairs out of her face, waiting for a protest. When none came, he bent down, capturing her mouth with his and beginning to move his lips, feeling victorious as she moved hers back. _

_After a few moments she pulled away, and deciding to take yet another risk, he asked with confidence, "Your place or mine?"_

_She looked shocked for a moment, but finally replied in a breathy whisper, "Yours."_

_Troy smiled and kissed her again, realizing as she grew bolder this time, being the first to prod her tongue into his mouth. _

_When they broke away for breath again, she spoke, "I'm going to go let my brother know he can go home without me. I'll meet you out in the parking lot, okay?"_

_Troy nodded mutely, his eyes following her as she turned to leave. _

_Sharpay Evans. He shook his head softly, wondering to himself what the consequences may be for what he had just done._

* * *

A/N: And finish!

For the extremely dense, the final scene in italics is the aforementioned scene in which Troy first kissed Sharpay in the auditorium.

Forgive me for the very sappy ending, including the exchanges of "I love you's" and everything. I just couldn't stop myself.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! To everyone who read and reviewed this story. Some of you were very loyal, and I even appreciate being nagged via inbox when I didn't update soon enough (cough, nearly every update.)

It seems that final chapters always seem to get the lowest reveiw count, but even though this is the end, please still leave a review and let me know what you thought of it. Thanks.

xoxo,

A.


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